An amendment from the European Commission is being put forward on changing emissions targets for vehicle manufacturers, which has been criticised by green groups.
At present and under current European legislation, vehicle manufacturers are required to reduce emissions by 15% in 2025 from a 2021 baseline.
Failure to do so would result in €95 per g/C02 with some manufacturers claiming that fines of €15bn were possible without changing the rules.
As a result, the Commission is now seeking to relax the rules, announcing that it would shift the 2025 target to a three-year average of sales from 2025-2027 instead.
The shift was originally put forward by the European People’s Party (EPP), which is the largest group currently in the European Parliament, making it more likely that the amendment will pass.
The news comes as the Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) published the second Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook report, which provides an overview of the EU’s work to meet the 2030 zero pollution targets, as well as its fourth Clean Air Outlook report.
The report showed that EU policies have contributed to reducing air pollution, pesticide use and plastic litter at sea. But pollution levels were still described as “too high”, in particular from harmful noise, microplastic releases into the environment, nutrient pollution and waste generation.
According to the studies, much stronger action is necessary in the EU to achieve its 2030 pollution reduction targets.
Dominic Phinn, Head of Transport at Climate Group, said that changes to legislation that have already been agreed had “puts thousands of companies on the back foot”.
He said:
“They’ve made huge investments to decarbonise their fleet, and now they’re told: what’s the hurry? It’s bad government, it’s bad business, and it’s bad for business confidence.
“It also casts profound doubts on how serious the EU is in reducing its emissions from road transport and its climate goals. Hundreds of thousands of EVs are rolling of the conveyor belt in China, but the EU decides to slow down. It’s wilfully conceding competitiveness here.
“Targets are set to boost the production of EVs and infrastructure across the EU. We urge the Commission to keep the 2025 CO2 targets for cars and vans and focus on putting in place conditions that will speed up the EV transition, including a big boost to EV infrastructure, driving growth, competitiveness and innovation, not slow it down.”
President Ursula von der Leyen said about the amendment:
“There is a clear demand for more flexibility on CO2 targets.The key principle here is balance. On the one hand, we need predictability and fairness for first movers, those who did their homework successfully. That means that we have to stick to the agreed targets.
“On the other, we need to listen to the voices of the stakeholders that ask for more pragmatism in these difficult times, and for technology neutrality. Especially when it comes to the 2025 targets and related penalties in case of non-compliance. To address this in a balanced manner, I will propose a focused amendment to the CO2 Standards Regulation this month.
“I am sure that such a targeted amendment could be agreed swiftly by the European Parliament and the Council. Because it of course only makes sense if it is agreed quickly. At the same time, we will prepare to speed up work on the 2035 review, with full technology neutrality as a core principle.”
