Today, the Plenary of the European Parliament has taken position for a reduction of 40% of carbon emissions from new passenger cars and vans by 2030, well beyond the European Commission proposal, as well as rules to mandate the sales of electric vehicles. These are the key outcomes of a vote in Strasbourg today.

“The European Commission proposal of a 30% reduction is a challenging yet realistic target, based on a thorough evaluation of the various elements at stake, environmental priorities prevailing”, comments Roberto Vavassori, President of CLEPA, the association of the automotive suppliers’ industry. “We call on the co-legislators not to go beyond the original proposal. Any target above 30% is exposing our industry to a concrete risk of disruption.”

Member States are expected to take a decision on their position on October 9 at the Environment Council. Once both institutions have adopted their respective positions, tripartite negotiations will resume with the aim of agreeing and adopting the legislation.

“Automotive suppliers fully support the goal of decarbonising mobility and produce a wealth of technologies to achieve this. Technology neutrality is an important compass which regulators should not abandon, as it enables the deployment of the broadest spectrum of solutions. Today´s however favours Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) at the expense of other solutions, such as hybridisation and alternative fuels, which have a major potential to contribute to decarbonisation as well,” adds Vavassori.

“It is our declared aim to remain globally competitive with a large variety of smart, safe and green mobility-related technologies, supporting the jobs of five million people in Europe today. Competitive regulation supporting both the environment as well as employment is a key to Europe’s success”, says Vavassori.

 “It is crucial too that the boundary conditions for the regulation will be improved in the weeks to come”, says Sigrid de Vries, CLEPA Secretary General. “Today, MEPs not only voted for a stricter regime for ‘eco-innovations’, technology solutions which reduce emissions without being recognised by the test cycle. They also supported a ‘malus’, a penalty for vehicle manufacturers which fail to achieve a benchmark of mostly battery electric vehicles as a proportion of their overall sales. This amounts to a de facto prescription of technology. It is disappointing that proposals for a better recognition in the benchmark of hybrid technology have been rejected.”

 The Parliament also calls on the Commission to develop a methodology for the life-cycle analysis of embedded emissions in fuel and energy production as well as in the manufacture of vehicles and parts. “This is important to level the playing field for combustion engines, electric vehicles and the many variants in between. Making the step towards well-to-wheel or life-cycle analysis is a welcome approach for future legislation”, says De Vries.

Members of the European Parliament approved the report 389 in favour, 239 against and 41 abstentions and adopted the mandate for the rapporteur to begin tripartite negotiations with the Council and the Commission.

Note to the editor:

CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, represents over 3.000 companies supplying state-of-the-art components and innovative technology for safe, smart and sustainable mobility, investing over 20 billion euros yearly in research and development. Automotive suppliers in Europe employ nearly five million people across the continent.

For more information, please contact: 

CLEPA- Pilar Perez (p.perez@clepa.be)