The draft report by Jan Huitema MEP (Renew Europe, Netherlands) on the revision of CO2 emission standards for new cars and vans in the European Union did not seem to convince his colleagues from the other political groups in the European Parliament at a meeting of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on Thursday 13 January.
EPP members, in particular, strongly criticised the draft text as being too ambitious. Jens Gieseke, the group’s shadow rapporteur for this report, and Peter Liese, both from Germany, expressed their opposition to the idea of introducing a target for 2027 and strengthening the standards proposed by the European Commission for 2025 and 2030 (see EUROPE 12853/7).
Mr Liese said Mr Huitema’s proposals would lead to “dramatic job losses in the automotive industry without really solving the environmental problem”, as “people will continue to use their old, polluting cars” due to insufficient charging infrastructure.
There were similar remarks from Kateřina Konečná (Czech Republic) and Sylvia Limmer (Germany), shadow rapporteurs for The Left and Identity and Democracy respectively.
The shadow rapporteurs for the S&D and Greens/EFA groups, Sara Cerdas (Portugal) and Bas Eickhout (Netherlands), welcomed the draft report and the idea of introducing a 2027 target.
The European Commission, for its part, stressed the importance of providing “sufficient time for manufacturers and suppliers to adapt to the implementation of the 2030 strengthened target”.
It also reiterated the reasons why it does not want to include renewable and low-carbon fuels in the CO2 standards: “these types of fuels are really needed in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, in particular aviation and maritime” and are “very energy-intensive”. Also, “their inclusion in CO2 standards would create uncertainty in the automotive industry’s value chain, which would impede the transition to zero-emission vehicles,” it added. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)