At a meeting on diesel on Tuesday 27 November at technical level in Brussels, the national representatives present expressed their concern about the impact that urban access registrations of diesel vehicles would have on the single market and asked the Commission to come back with a series of recommendations.
While Member States recalled that the prohibition or restriction of the circulation of motor vehicles in urban areas falls within national competence, several Member States expressed concern about the impact that these bans could have on the internal market. They therefore asked the European Commission to come back with general criteria and guidelines on restrictions.
These restrictive measures are of great concern to some governments, particularly in the East. The latter anticipate a tidal wave in Central and Eastern Europe of polluting second-hand vehicles from the countries of the western part of the Union, with owners wanting to sell their vehicles without excessive discounts - a phenomenon that was discussed at the October Environment Council (see EUROPE 12114).
Some 19 Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom) were present during the meeting to present, inter alia, actions taken at national level to improve air quality while minimising the burden on car owners. An important point, while France, and to a lesser extent Belgium, is affected by the ‘yellow vests’ movement, a major movement that calls, among other things, for an end to the carbon tax on fuel.
A round table discussion was held on the preparation of the new registration regime and market surveillance. As such, the Joint Research Center made a presentation on how Member States can benefit from the new test facilities set up by the JRC.
An unanswered invitation. The Commission wanted a ministerial summit, but due to the limited feedback from Member States (see EUROPE 12144) - only Romania and Luxembourg had responded to the call - the Commission decided to change the format to a technical summit. The comments and contributions made during this meeting will be used at a conference organised in March by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU on the future of mobility in the EU.
Transport & Environment and Eurocities had organised a 'diesel' summit in October during which the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, repeated her annoyance at the Member States' slow progress (see EUROPE 12131). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)