The European Commission wants to encourage the embrace of electric cars with stricter rules for phasing out fuel engines. The commission also wants car manufacturers to pay for pollution caused by the engines in their vehicles.
This is what European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans says in an interview with the Financial Times. Brussels is working on a plan to lower the cost of electric vehicles and make cleaner vehicles accessible to all Europeans, according to Timmermans. To this end, the commission is expected to present a set of measures later this month. These measures should take the EU towards its target of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990.
Deadline
A source tells the FT that Brussels is considering a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions allowed for new vehicles appearing on the road from 2035. This would effectively make this a deadline for cars with traditional internal combustion engines to enter the European market. Car manufacturer Volkswagen recently announced it would completely cease production of internal combustion engines in Europe by this year.
If the new rules actually materialise, they will be a considerable aggravation of current agreements on reducing CO2 emissions. In 2018, for instance, a 37.5% reduction was agreed for 2030. However, the new regulations are expected to talk about a 60% reduction by 2030 and 100% by 2035, reports the source.
No CO2 emissions in 2050
The plans are part of a broader goal to make the EU the first major region to have zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The European Commission is expected to release new regulations in mid-July to help achieve this goal. Both the European Parliament and EU member states, incidentally, still have to agree to these regulations before they apply.
The European Commission has been operating a so-called European Trading System (ETS) for some time. Under this, companies are allocated a cap on their CO2 emissions. Do they emit less? Then they can sell CO2 credits to parties that emit too much. They in turn have to buy extra CO2 credits to compensate. Brussels wants to revamp this system and make it applicable to more sectors. Consider the transport and shipping sectors.
Impact on households
Presumably also involves the heat supply of buildings, which is also expected to impact households. Timmermans additionally wants users of a polluting car to pay more for the CO2 emissions they create. This impact on consumers receives criticism from poorer EU member states in particular. They fear that low-income consumers will be disproportionately affected by the measures. Thus, their charges will rise, while they cannot easily switch to, say, an electric car or more sustainable forms of transport.
Timmermans reports to the FT that Brussels is working on a system to address these concerns. This involves a so-called 'Climate Action Social Fund'. This fund should reduce the impact on the hardest-hit households.
Frans Timmermans’ interview with the FT is available here. Further information on the plans can be found at Reuters and Bloomberg, both of which have managed to get hold of the details.
Further information is available here.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
