"No. The answer is no." Europe does not change its mind on car emissions

European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra reiterated the targets for 2025 and 2035

Photo by: Dusan_Cvetanovic

By: Massimo Grassi

Dec 15, 2024 at 3:12am ET

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No way: the European Commission is not considering changing its stance on the issue of emission reductions for cars. This was once again confirmed by European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra who, when questioned by Reuters, replied with a dry 'No. The answer is no'.

Therefore, the calls not only from industry but also from the EPP, the main political group that makes up the European Parliament, have been to no avail. Just a few days ago, the EPP had launched a campaign calling for a review of the 2035 deadline for stopping internal combustion engines, with an opening for technological neutrality.

Pulling straight ahead

Hoekstra is therefore once again armouring the EU's objectives, sending back every request for a revision. Even those of ACEA (the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association), which is concerned not only about 2035 but also about 2025, when the new standards for range emissions will come into force. Currently the legislation stipulates that the average is 114 g/km, from 1 January next it will be lowered to 95 g/km. According to the association, this will result in penalties of up to €15 billion for European manufacturers.

The European commissioner played down these concerns, pointing out that the fines for the previous lowering of emissions - which came into force in 2020 - were far lower than budgeted.

One solution could be to freeze the fines for 2025 - as has emerged from some rumours in recent days - or to calculate emissions on a three-year basis, so as to allow manufacturers to catch up in 2026-2027 in the event that they fail to meet the targets in 2025.