07/12/2022 (Agence Europe) – The European Trade Union Institute for Research (ETUI) published, on Thursday 8 December, a report in which it considers that the regulation on CO2 emissions for new cars and vans (see EUROPE 13075/12) risks increasing the use of “heavier and more powerful vehicles” and reducing “the environmental benefits of electrification”. The ETUI believes that the Commission has been pushing for an upmarket drift in vehicles in recent years and that this dynamic may imply “unaffordable” prices for some consumers who would like to buy an electric vehicle. While the weight and power of European cars and vans increased by an average of 10% and 26% respectively between 2001 and 2015, the report suggests that Chinese vehicles could be the most affordable if European carmakers decide to withdraw from the entry-level market. In response, the report calls for the abolition of weight-based CO2 standards and the introduction of energy efficiency to assess the real contribution of electric vehicles. See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/4jn (TM)