On Tuesday 21 October in Luxembourg, European environment ministers discussed a ban on the production of combustion engine vehicles from 2035, at the request of France and Spain the evening before.
According to a European source, Germany, Austria and Italy tried to prevent this item from being added to the agenda. While some industry ministers (see EUROPE 13719/4) and MEPs (see EUROPE 13726/7) would like to go back on this 2035 target, France and Spain want to defend it. In their request, they estimated that the EU would not achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 without gradually replacing combustion-powered vehicles, which are responsible for around 15% of CO2 emissions, with electric vehicles.
In their view, “the electric car represents a major industrial and economic opportunity, enabling the development of new strategic value chains on European soil and reducing our dependence on hydrocarbon imports”. The two countries are also refusing to relax the rules on plug-in hybrid vehicles, which are mainly used in combustion mode.
However, given the delicate situation in which the European automotive industry finds itself, faced with slow growth and fierce competition, they agree on the need to offer more flexibility to the sector, but subject to strict conditions. In addition to a targeted amendment to the regulation on CO2 standards (see EUROPE 13649/31), they are proposing to introduce preferential accounting (‘super-credits’) for vehicles that meet the targets. This measure would reinforce the reduction in CO2 emissions associated with European production compared with the more polluting production in third countries.
They also suggest extending the emissions smoothing period for light commercial vehicles to five years and allowing manufacturers to count all registrations of N2 category electric vehicles towards their N1 targets, with no minimum weight limits.
“Today we will be calling for European production, and ‘Made in Europe’ to be strengthened and supported as part of this transition. It’s a question of sovereignty and decarbonisation, but it has to be done with flexibility”, commented Benjamin Haddad, French Minister Delegate for Europe, on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council.
According to another European source, the subject will be mentioned in the conclusions of the European Council to be held on Thursday 23 October.
Read the document: https://aeur.eu/f/j2r (Original version in French by Anne Damiani, with the editorial staff)