Transport and Environment's clean vehicles director Greg Archer said: “The Commission has gifted the car industry an ineffective regulation after they came calling. Removing the penalty for failing to meet zero-emission vehicle targets is an own goal. It amounts to handing the global leadership on electric cars to China, which will be delighted to export their models to Europe, jeopardising jobs in Europe’s auto industry.”
EURELECTRIC Secretary-General Kristian Ruby said: “EURELECTRIC is concerned that the Mobility Package proposals published today do not go far enough to tackle the rising emissions from road transport in Europe. Whereas we welcome the introduction of an incentive scheme for low and zero emission vehicles, the level of ambition is too weak to trigger the necessary paradigm shift to electric mobility across Europe.
The proposal to monitor the gap between test cycle and real driving emissions is the good piece of news today. It will contribute to environmental integrity and allow the Commission to review the targets in case the gap widens. This is an important step to close loopholes.”
BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said: “The proposal shows that the European Commission is only trundling along in its attempts to make the EU’s cars cleaner. Do they opt for a robust, long-term strategy to bring technologies to market that will cut emissions and the cost of driving? Or do they hold back, so as not to upset the vested short-term interests of the European automotive industry? It appears that, once again, it is the latter."
International Council on Clean Transportation's (ICCT) EU Managing Director, Peter Mock, said: "From a technical standpoint, more progress is definitely possible. Our analyses indicate that a more ambitious CO2 target value would foster the uptake of electrified vehicles and as a result would actually reduce overall compliance cost for vehicle manufacturers, compared to a scenario with a higher market share of combustion engine vehicles."
French MEP Françoise Grossetête (EPP) said: "The solution for the future of the car industry is not just electric. What matters is the reduction of emissions, notably CO2 and NOx, to ensure a better quality of life to our fellow citizens.
"The automotive industry must strengthen its efforts in this direction by offering a variety of innovative technological solutions. Legislation on real-life emission tests carried out in the actual driving situation will help to discern the good from the bad technological performances."
ACEA, European car manufacturers association, said in a statement:
"The 30% reduction level proposed by the Commission is also overly challenging, going beyond the ambition level set out in the Climate and Energy Framework and in its own 2016 impact assessment, which specifies what is needed to deliver on COP21. In line with this, the European auto industry considers a 20% reduction by 2030 for cars to be achievable at a high, but acceptable, cost."
John Cooper, Director General of FuelsEurope, commented: “The Commission should be commended for the measured proposal but it is disappointing to see that the Commission did in reality move away from the principle of technology neutrality to push for EVs.”
John Cooper stressed that “there is little doubt about the Commission’s long-term trajectory since the Mobility Package Executive Summary explicitly asserts that the proposed framework aims to support a gradual transition from vehicles powered by conventional engines to electric vehicles.”
FuelsEurope believes that many other technologies including the internal combustion engine can deliver the required efficiency gains and it is worth remembering that an advanced efficient ICE based vehicle combined with a liquid fuel containing advanced lower-carbon components can be competitive in every way with fully electrified battery vehicles, because the combination of the individual improvements in fuels and vehicles have a multiplied effect in real life.
Greens/EFA Environment and Public Health spokesperson, MEP Bas Eickhout said: "We need to see much greater ambition if we are to protect our environment and secure the long-term future of Europe’s car industry. An ambitious deal now would push the European car industry into the 21st century and bring us already to the halfway mark of the transport sector's share of the Paris climate agreement targets. The weak measures proposed today will only leave EU member states facing a steeper challenge down the line and blow a big chance to deliver major social benefits and cost-efficiencies.
"The Commission's CO2 reduction targets are simply not credible. Just to meet our own climate legislation, they need to be at very least doubled. To show so little ambition on climate at the very time that negotiations are underway at COP23 in Bonn seriously undermines the EU's credibility.
"The proposals on zero-emission vehicles are very weak and risk becoming a loophole to undermine CO2 targets. The Commission will need to do much better if it wants to drive innovation and deliver the urgently needed shift to electric vehicles.
"Many in the German car lobby will be happy today. But they have to understand that their inaction – and the political weakness that continues to entertain it – will only cause greater harm in the long run."
Greenpeace EU climate policy director Ansgar Kiene said: “These measures are fundamentally held back by the 20th-century obsession with the passenger car and the combustion engine. Cities and governments across Europe are way ahead of the game, exposing the car lobby’s influence on the Commission. Only with fewer cars on the roads, a firm commitment to renewable energy, and better access to clean, smart and shared modes of transport can the EU meet its climate change targets and improve the air we breathe.”
Patrik Ragnarsson, Senior Manager Automotive & Transport Group, European Aluminium commented: “The European aluminium industry regrets that the Commission’s proposed regulation for post-2020 CO2 emission standards for cars and vans still bases the CO2 targets on the mass of the vehicles. By not changing the methodology to the more technology-neutral footprint-based approach, the Commission missed the opportunity to fully rewards investments made in lightening vehicles. Several studies have shown that a footprint-based approach is much more cost-effective. Under the proposed regulation, heavier cars are still allowed to emit more CO2 emissions than lighter cars.”
Roberto Vavassori, president of CLEPA (the European association of automotive suppliers):
“Europe should be courageous and opt for the ‘European way'. Europe’s globally acknowledged strength lies in efficiently combining the most advanced internal combustion engine technologies with synthetic and regenerative fuels, electric motorisation, energy recuperation and a lean battery pack that minimises the use of present-state battery technology, avoiding downsides in terms of performance, resources and production”, he explained. “The question isn’t electric or combustion; modern vehicles have a power unit boasting a mix of solutions for smart, green and flexible mobility.”
“CLEPA asks the legislator to maintain an open mind for all technology options and provide a policy framework that positively accelerates innovation in Europe”, added Sigrid de Vries, CLEPA Secretary-General.
S&D vice-president for sustainability, MEP Kathleen Van Brempt:
“The 15% reduction target by 2025 and 30% by 2030 is absolutely unacceptable. As far back as 2013, the European Parliament recommended an ‘indicative range’ of 68-78 g/km as soon as 2025, which is already a 30% reduction. In the Commission’s proposal, this 30% reduction will only be met five years later.
“If we are to remain on a realistic path to decarbonising our economy by 2050, a minimum 40% reduction target should be required by 2030, with an intermediate mandatory target for 2025. Certainly in the view of rising transport volumes."
“We should have learned our lessons from the Dieselgate scandal by setting out a clear path with incentives to invest, transform and clean up existing and future car fleets instead of giving in to lower standards."
