In view of the difficulties recently experienced by the automotive sector (see EUROPE 13534/3), the European People’s Party (EPP) Group in the European Parliament adopted a plan to save the European automotive industry at its meeting on Wednesday 11 December. Germany’s Jens Gieseke, member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN), presented the initiative at a press conference.
To ensure the competitiveness of this industry, the EPP is calling for, among other things, a review of the ban on internal combustion engines, adopted in March 2023 (see EUROPE 13151/5, 13455/28), a technology-neutral approach to encourage innovation and faster expansion of the electric vehicle infrastructure.
“We have always been the party that supported industry and tried not just to be ambitious on climate targets, but to have a realistic approach so that industry could have opportunities as part of the transition to the Green Deal”, Mr Gieseke stressed. “In the document, you will see a clear commitment to the climate objectives up to 2050, but of course there are challenges for which the policy must find an answer”, he emphasised.
The EPP is also calling for eliminating the fines provided for starting in 2025 by the regulation on reducing CO2 emissions from new cars and vans, adopted in 2019 (see EUROPE 12236/23). If European manufacturers fail to comply with these rules and do not meet their climate targets, fines of up to €15 billion could be imposed on all car manufacturers, according to the EPP. “At least we want that the [European] Commission comes up with a proposal on delivering flexibility, on having a longer period for calculation, on not just focusing on cars registered, but perhaps on cars produced”, defended Mr Gieseke.
The EPP also proposes measures to stimulate sales of electric vehicles, innovative support schemes, reductions in value added tax (VAT) and leasing contracts subsidised by the Member States.
The President of the EPP, Germany’s Manfred Weber, believes that this plan is even “the best response we can give to populism”.
Disagreements with industry. On the industry side, not all of these solutions are appropriate. “Challenging the CO2 reduction target is not the answer (...), instead we need to be helping the industry with supportive demand-side measures like taxes and financial incentives”, said Vanessa Butani, Volvo’s Head of Global Sustainability, in a webinar earlier in the day.
Aaron Fishbone, political director of the infrastructure company GreenWay, and Marie Hammer, director of industrial affairs at component manufacturer Danfoss, both advocated legal clarity. “EV Charging is a key part in the overall electrification transition. It creates a lot of value and jobs, but we need clarity and certainty”, said Mr Fishbone.
Same line of thought for the German and French representatives of the automotive trade and services, ZDK and Mobilians: “The last thing we want to do is avoid or delay the decarbonisation process, these deadlines have the potential to drive innovation and the market”. They are asking the Commission to carry out impact studies.
To read the EPP plan: https://aeur.eu/f/erg (Original version in French by Anne Damiani, with Mathieu Bion)