Did they consult together beforehand or were they intended to all find themselves fighting for the same battle as the end of the year quickly approaches? Still, several groups, whether purely political or more linked to the automobile campaigned this Tuesday, December 10, 2024 with the aim of delaying the CO2 limits imposed by Europe for 2025. And while we’re at it, let’s take another look at 2035 and the planned end to the sale of thermal vehicles on the Old Continent.
When BMW clarified at the start of the week in an interview that it had no reason to push back the CO2 reduction targets for 2025, on the side of the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), to which the German manufacturer nevertheless belongs, the sound bell is quite different. And it was its president, Luca de Meo, who once again voiced his grievances against the implementation of these ever stricter standards.
Request for flexibility
“If the Commission does not change its position, companies like ours will have to set aside billions of euros,” he explained in Brussels, obviously referring here to the enormous fines that car manufacturers who do not comply could pay. to CO2 standards. Stating that “no one denies the need for decarbonization”, he pleaded for “flexibility”, otherwise all the money that will go into fines will not go to investment. “Finding a solution for 2025 is very urgent.” As a reminder, the new rules set by the European Union require manufacturers to sell at least 20% electric vehicles in their range.
“Considerable pressure on the entire sector”
On the French side also this Tuesday, December 10 saw two organizations linked to the automobile, the PFA (Plateforme Automobile which represents the automobile sector) and Mobilians (which represents dealers and automobile service professionals) being questioned by the Assembly national. More precisely by the Economic Affairs Committee.
The opportunity for Marc Mortureux, general director of the PFA, to recall that sales are historically lows, but that at the same time there is an “extremely ambitious trajectory” in the development of electric which requires a “very strong dynamic in the sale of electric vehicles”. “We had a 14.5% market share in Europe last year, we hoped to increase this year but we have dropped to 13%, and overall we need around 22% to meet the objectives set by the Commission European” he recalled. “A gigantic leap”, a “big problem which puts considerable pressure on the entire sector”.
Europe’s largest political group on the attack
And then in Brussels, it also appears that the largest political group in the European Parliament is mounting a campaign to weaken the EU’s policies on reducing CO2 emissions. According to Reuters, which was able to obtain the document, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) specifies that the ban planned for 2035 “should be canceled”. And this so that combustion cars running on biofuels and alternative fuels can still be used.
The document also calls for plug-in hybrids to also continue to be sold. Finally, in relation to the 2025 standards, the EPP suggests postponing the limits to 2027.
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