the Minister of the Economy opposed to sanctions in the automobile sector

The French government “do not consider” that car manufacturers be sanctioned at European level if they do not respect CO2 emissions standards which will be strengthened in 2025, declared French Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand on Tuesday. “I do not envisage sanctions being imposed even though immense efforts have been made” by the automobile industry to electrify, underlined the minister to the professionals gathered at the Automobile Summit, on the sidelines of the Paris Motor Show which opened on Monday.

Most European car manufacturers have asked Brussels for urgent aid measures to face the tightening in 2025 of CO2 emissions standards which they consider themselves incapable of respecting, in particular because of the erosion of sales of electric cars. “We are in the process of exploring all flexibilities (…) in coalition with our European partners and with those in Europe who are most committed to this issue (…) to avoid penalizing our manufacturers in their investments , precisely at the most crucial moment of their industrial transition”underlined Antoine Armand on Tuesday.

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Repercussions on all suppliers

According to the minister, “sanctions cannot ignore the economic context of employment and the development of our industry in France and in Europe”. “Fines of several billion euros on a European scale would further limit, not only our objectives, but our capacity to invest in greening (the automobile). And these fines would, I believe, have repercussions on all suppliers who are already under great pressure throughout France.continued Antoine Armand.

“Almost everywhere in France, almost everywhere in Europe, life cannot be done without a car, recognizing this is not ideology, it is observation and pragmatism”also underlined the minister. “We will maintain our objectives, continue to support you and persist in protecting”he told the industrialists.