S&Ds continue to push for clean mobility through new public procurement rules and new transport infrastructure
Date
25 Oct 2018
Sections
Climate & Environment
The European Union is undergoing a transformation towards sustainable zero-carbon mobility. Currently 94% of Europe’s transport sector is dependent on oil, 90% of which has to be imported. Reducing our carbon dependency will not only save money, protect the environment and human health, but it will also ensure the competitiveness of the European car industry in the future.
The Socialists and Democrats are strongly committed to enabling a smooth and fair transition. In this week’s plenary session two important reports were adopted:
Today the Parliament backed S&D MEP Ismail Ertug’s report, which calls for the introduction of binding national targets in the Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure.
The Parliament also passed new measures, updating the Directive on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles - the Clean Vehicles Directive. It aims to incentivise the production of clean and zero-emission vehicles through public procurement to stimulate demand. The revised directive will also contribute to the decarbonisation of EU road transport and help member states meet their local air pollution targets.
Ismail Ertug, the S&D spokesperson on transport, said:
“There is no time left to waste. We urge the Commission to accelerate the revision of the Directive on alternative fuels infrastructure and come up with strong targets for a comprehensive European-wide network, and most importantly more funding for alternative fuels infrastructure.
“Out of roughly 800.000 charging points envisaged by 2025, only a few more than 100.000 are already in place. For hydrogen - which is not mandatory under the Directive - the situation is even worse. Three weeks ago, S&Ds successfully lead a majority for ambitious CO2 targets for cars and vans. Now we have to make sure that those can be reached.
“It is vital that sufficient infrastructure is built in rural areas, as there should be no European region left behind in the transition towards low-emission mobility.”
Seb Dance MEP, the S&D rapporteur for the Clean Vehicles Directive, said:
“Despite the huge potential of this legislation, the current Directive has had little impact on reducing CO2 and air pollutants emitted from publicly procured vehicles and has instead promoted the procurement of diesel vehicles. This is unacceptable, as we believe public authorities must be at the forefront of the transition to sustainable and zero-emission mobility.
“By establishing ambitious and binding targets for zero-emission vehicles, we will soon be seeing more and more zero-emission buses driving in our cities - reducing CO2 and improving air quality for our citizens.
“The European Commission and governments must now put their money where their mouth is and ensure local and regional authorities are given enough funding to accelerate this transition.”