PRAGUE/BRUSSELS — Transport Ministers of the Czech Republic, GermanyItaly, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia discussed their push to change the European Union’s proposed vehicle emissions limits on Monday.
The proposed Euro 7 law, which EU countries and lawmakers will start negotiating this year, would tighten limits on pollutants harmful to health, including nitrogen oxides. The EU has said the health benefits would far outweigh the costs.
But countries, including the Czech Republic, oppose the proposed rules which they say are onerous for the industry. Most have large car manufacturing sectors.
An EU official said ministers had discussed the law’s “unrealistic” timelines and problems with the team to enforce it.
“Our effort is, in the context of Euro 7, that these conditions are really realistic, that they are achievable,” Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka said in a telephone interview after the meeting in Strasbourg. who called
The Czech Republic said countries had reservations about the short adoption period of the standard, which is proposed to come into effect in mid-2025 for cars.
It has proposed a four-year period for the rule to come into effect, along with some technical changes, to give industry time to prepare and push for technological measures.
“If we’re serious about trying to bring Europe to greater carbon neutrality, I think that really means introducing technologically realistic measures,” Kupka said.
And then there is the ban on internal combustion
The countries also discussed a separate row over the bloc’s 2035 deadline to phase out CO2-emitting cars, which would effectively make it impossible to sell new ones combustion motor cars after 2035.
The CO2 law, the EU’s main tool to speed up Europe’s switch to electric vehicles, was suspended this month after last-minute opposition from Germany. This surprised policymakers in Brussels and other member states, as EU countries and the European Parliament had already agreed a deal on the law last year.
Germanybacked by countries like Italy and the Czech Republic, wants clearer guarantees than new cars internal combustion Engines can still be sold after 2035, if they run on CO2-neutral fuels.
Other countries have different reservations. Poland, for example, has said its opposition is “much more fundamental” than the types of fuels that can be used after 2035, saying the proposal would mean combustion more expensive engines for consumers.
The EU says the 2035 date is crucial because the average lifespan of new cars is 15 years, so a later ban would prevent the EU from reaching net zero emissions by 2050, the global milestone scientists say it would avoid catastrophic climate change. Transport accounts for around a quarter of EU emissions.
Parts of the European car industry are also lobbying to weaken EU legislation. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said on Monday that, in his view, Berlin is “taking the right steps” to ensure that e-fuels can be used in new combustion motor cars after 2035.
