The French government will ask Brussels to postpone the sanctions targeting European car manufacturers which have not reached the objectives on CO2 emissions in 2025, announced Antoine Armand, the Minister of the Economy, in an interview with Échos published Sunday.
“We must stay the course of decarbonization and the 2035 deadline for the end of the thermal engine. But let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot! If we have to impose gigantic fines on manufacturers because they have not moved fast enough, the first consequence will be to weaken investment and above all to strengthen our Asian competitors. »
Manufacturers “firmly committed” to electrification
“Manufacturers firmly committed to the electrification of vehicles should not have to pay fines in 2025: I will defend this position with Marc Ferracci (the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry, editor’s note) to the Commission and our counterparts “, he assured. Mr. Armand will participate in the Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday.
Car manufacturers must respect an annual average of emissions per car sold in Europe. This so-called CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard requires manufacturers to gradually sell less and less polluting vehicles. It has generally been respected so far but it must reach a new level from January 2025. However, manufacturers consider themselves incapable of respecting them, in particular because of the erosion of sales of electric cars.
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