2024-12-17 18:54:00
Several European countries are calling for an easing of sanctions that could hit producers starting next year.
France is no longer alone. On Tuesday in Brussels, Italy and several European countries increased pressure on its side to oppose possible fines that could sanction car manufacturers if they fail to meet the 2025 CO2 emissions reduction targets within the Union European. France had added this item to the agenda of a meeting of EU environment ministers.
Defending the CO2 reduction targets, the French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher called for “flexibility and adjustments”so as not to penalize European producers in the face of international competition. Such sanctions would constitute a “counterproductive approach” Who “it weakens our industry and does not accelerate electrification” vehicles, he said.
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“These sanctions would limit the sector’s ability to reinvest”
Several countries have gone in the same direction, including Italy, which considers them to be so “sanctions would significantly limit the sector’s ability to reinvest in innovation”. The Czechs and Slovenians defended the same position, according to two European diplomats. The European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra, has indicated that he will report on the interventions of the various member states, without going into the merits. At the beginning of November the European Commission made its judgment “early” this debate. “We will see at the end of 2025 how many cars have been sold and what the emissions will be”a spokesperson said.
But in the midst of the crisis in the European automotive sector, the manufacturers’ lobby called for a consultation with the Commission “in emergency” to avoid these fines, citing the erosion of electric vehicle sales. Car manufacturers must meet an annual average of emissions per car sold in Europe. This so-called CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard requires them to gradually sell less and less polluting vehicles. So far it has been generally respected, but from January it will have to reach a new level, with a tightening of the rules and sanctions.
At the end of November, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen promised the launch soon “a strategic dialogue” on the future of the European automotive industry, amidst the turbulence. In the name of the ecological transition, the EU plans to ban the sale of new combustion vehicles in 2035.
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