On Tuesday 16 December in Strasbourg, the European Commission presented a package of measures to help the automotive sector (see EUROPE 13774/13). The reversal of the ban on the production of internal combustion engine vehicles and the quotas for electric vehicles in company fleets have not been unanimously welcomed.
However, MEP Ondřej Krutílek (ECR, Czech), whose group has been advocating technological neutrality for several years, believes that this measure is insufficient: “The transition to zero-emission transport, which people cannot afford and companies cannot meet, is a transition that benefits no one, and needs to be corrected by co-legislators”.
But for his colleague François Kalfon (S&D, French), combustion power is a “hard drug” habit that the industry is unable to kick and which is delaying “necessary decarbonisation”. He also regretted the measures to allow the use of bio- and e-fuels, because there is “competition over usage and we need them to decarbonise the aviation and maritime sectors”.
The European Committee of the Regions is also divided on these topics. María Chivite, President of the Navarra Region, said that this reversal “risks undermining not only Europe’s competitive edge but also its climate leadership”. Conversely, Guido Guidesi, President of the Alliance of Automobile Regions (ARA), believes that the European Commission is not going far enough.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has warned that “false solutions” such as plug-in hybrids and biofuels “ will only serve to make mobility more expensive for consumers”.
The think-tank Transport & Environment has estimated that the Commission’s proposal would reduce sales of battery electric vehicles by 25% by 2035. The risk of diversification of powertrains according to manufacturers’ strategies could divert investment in electric vehicles, while China races further ahead.
Finally, CLECAT, the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services, welcomes the fact that the mandatory purchase quotas for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles do not include HGVs. It believes that this would have generated “disproportionate costs and administrative complexity” without helping to decarbonise freight. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)