A coordinated resistance by eight member states has emerged against the proposed Euro 7 emission standard by the EU. Led by the Czech Republic, these countries, including Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, have signed a document denoting the proposed emission limits as unrealistic.
Euro 7 is said to be unnecessary and too expensive
According to the shared document, which has been sent to the Swedish Presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Euractiv portal, they consider Euro 7 unnecessary and excessively costly. Euractiv cites their stance as being against any further emission requirements for exhaust gases from passenger and commercial vehicles, as it would lead to reduced investments in achieving the recently agreed path towards zero CO2 emissions from vehicles. This commitment by the EU aims to gradually phase out combustion vehicles from sales by 2035.
While the EU proposal mandates the Euro 7 emission standard for passenger vehicles to come into effect in July 2025 and for commercial vehicles in July 2027, the coalition of states in their letter advocates for a delay of at least three years for passenger cars and five years for commercial vehicles. The signatories argue that the Euro 7 standard would impede the achievement of the goal of zero CO2 emissions from passenger vehicles by 2035 and assert that the proposed limits are too stringent and challenging to implement.
Germany’s entry would help push through changes
Foto de Martin Krchnacek na Unsplash
Czech Republic’s Minister of Transport, Martin Kupka, expects that more countries will join the alliance, even though Germany is currently not among them. As reported by Reuters, the European Union has not yet responded to the collective resistance and is waiting to see how it will influence the formulation of the Euro 7 emission standards.
When the European Commission presented the draft of the standard’s wording in November last year, the goal was to merge the existing Euro 6 standard for passenger vehicles and the Euro VI standard for commercial vehicles into a single comprehensive framework. Additionally, the Euro 7 standard would apply to all vehicles, regardless of whether they are powered by diesel, gasoline, hybrid, or electric engines, as it also takes into account the wear of brakes and tires, which emit microplastics.
Automobile manufacturers, opposing the proposed wording of the Euro 7 standard, simultaneously argue that the regulations are unnecessary and excessively costly, as companies are already burdened with investments of tens of billions of euros in the transition to zero-emission electromobility. However, the European Commission considers the regulations necessary not only to reduce harmful emissions but also to prevent any potential recurrence of the VW Dieselgate emission scandal from 2015.
Leave a Reply