Eight EU Member States on Monday 22 May declared their opposition to the introduction of the Euro 7 environmental standard.
In an unofficial statement obtained by EUROPE, sent to the EU Council Presidency, Member States and the European Commission, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia set out their main concerns about the Commission’s proposal for stricter air pollutant emission rules for combustion engine vehicles.
According to the eight opposing countries, the regulation presented on 10 November 2022 (see EUROPE 13061/14) seems unrealistic and risks having a negative effect on investments in the sector already engaged in the transition to electric. “The proposal [has a] high level of ambition which will be very difficult to achieve, taking into account the Union’s objectives on CO2 emission targets”, the eight states wrote.
They want to express their opposition to new rules on exhaust emissions, including “new testing requirements or new emission limits” for cars and light commercial vehicles. They support this position by pointing to the measures already taken to reduce car pollution, which would be hampered by the introduction of the Euro 7 standard. “[T]hese new rules would divert the industry’s investment from achieving the net-zero transition pathway set out in the recently adopted CO2 regulation”, the statement says.
Furthermore, in this document, the eight States express their concern about the 2025 deadline, which is considered too close. Instead, they advocate “ensuring that the lead times are at least three years from the moment of adoption of the whole package, including the implementing acts”.
Finally, for heavy duty vehicles, the Commission is also asked to limit its level of ambition, setting requirements “realistically”. “The conditions for individual HDV categories must be differentiated” the eight states argued.
The group’s position is in line with the opinion of the car manufacturers, who oppose the ambition of Euro 7 on the grounds that costs are too high. In a statement issued on Tuesday 23 May, Sigrid de Vries, Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), said: “The Euro 7 proposal would have an extremely low environmental impact at an extremely high cost”.
For her part, French MEP Karima Delli (Greens/EFA) said in a statement that “this action is scandalous” in the face of a Commission proposal that is “far from turning the tables”.
In the EU Council, work has started at working group level, while in the European Parliament, the draft report by Alexandr Vondra (ECR, Czech) is expected to be examined by the Environment Committee (ENVI) in mid-June.
Read the document: https://aeur.eu/f/70v (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)