Prague/Brussels — Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, GermanyItaly, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia on Monday discussed their push to replace proposed EU vehicle emissions limits.
The proposed Euro 7 law, on which EU countries and lawmakers will begin negotiations this year, would tighten limits on health-harming pollutants including nitrogen oxides. The European Union has said that the health benefits would far outweigh the costs.
But countries including the Czech Republic oppose the proposed rules, which they say are burdensome for the industry. Most have large car manufacturing sectors.
An EU official said ministers had discussed the “unrealistic” time frame of the law and the instruments for implementing it.
“Our effort is to make those conditions in the Euro 7 arena really realistic, to make them achievable,” Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka said in a telephone interview after the meeting in Strasbourg.
The Czech Republic said countries had reservations on a shorter period for adopting the rules, which should come into force in mid-2025 for cars under the proposals.
It has proposed a period of four years for the norm to come into effect, with some technical changes, to give time to the industry to prepare and promote technical measures.
“If we’re really serious about trying to get Europe to more carbon neutrality, I think it really means putting in place technically realistic measures,” Kupka said.
and then there’s the ban on internal combustion
The countries also discussed a separate line over the bloc’s 2035 deadline for phasing out CO2-emitting cars, which would effectively make new sales impossible. combustion Engine cars after 2035.
CO2 legislation, the EU’s main tool to speed up Europe’s transition to electric vehicles, was put on hold this month after last-minute protests. Germany, Policy makers in Brussels and other member states were taken by surprise after EU countries and the European Parliament agreed a deal on the law last year.
GermanyBacked by countries including Italy and the Czech Republic, wants clear assurances that new cars with internal combustion The engines can still be sold after 2035, if they run on CO2-neutral fuels.
Other countries have different reservations. Poland, for example, has said that its opposition is “much more fundamental” than the types of fuel that can be used after 2035, and has said that the proposal combustion The engine is more expensive for consumers.
The EU says the 2035 date is important because new cars have an average lifetime of 15 years – so a later ban would prevent the EU from reaching net zero emissions by 2050, a global milestone scientists say could be devastating climate change change will be stopped. Transport accounts for about a quarter of EU emissions.
Parts of Europe’s car industry are also lobbying for the EU law to be weakened. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said on Monday he believes Berlin is “taking appropriate steps” to ensure the use of e-fuels in new cars. combustion Engine cars after 2035.