13/10/2023 |Articles are machine translated
Ilustrative picture. | Photo: Škoda Auto
The Automotive Industry Association has long advocated for a form of Euro 7 emission targets and testing conditions that will lead to the availability of a wide range of vehicle models and maintain employment and competitiveness in the automotive industry. For these reasons, we view the outcome of the vote by the Committee on the Environment (ENVI) positively, particularly as regards linking the entry into force of the act with secondary legislation. This is absolutely crucial in terms of the ability of manufacturers and test centres to prepare for the new regulatory requirements. Manufacturers can only develop and certify mass production once all the implementing legislation has come into force. However, concerns remain about some of the technical requirements, such as ‘on-board monitoring’.
“Knowing the balance of power in the European Parliament, the approved text should be considered a considerable success and an improvement on the original proposal for a Euro 7 emission standard from the European Commission. The credit for this goes clearly to MEP and chief rapporteur Alexandr Vondra, who managed to form a broad coalition with a rational view of the matter,” says Zdeněk Petzl, Executive Director of the Automotive Industry Association.
The ENVI Committee’s vote represents a significant improvement on the original European Commission proposal, which contained extremely stringent requirements on technical parameters and implementation timetable. As a result, the original text imposed disproportionate costs on the industry, which would have diverted important investments in the transition to zero-emission mobility, while at the same time pushing for the cessation of production of smaller and more affordable vehicles, hence the premature closure of entire production plants, with an unprecedented impact on employment. Specifically in the case of the Czech Republic, this would mean a 30% reduction in vehicle production (i.e. 350 000 vehicles), 70 000 lost jobs and a loss of 3% of GDP, all in exchange for at best marginal environmental benefits.
In this respect, it is worth mentioning the enormous progress that vehicle manufacturers have made in reducing pollutant emissions from road transport over the last few years. It is simply wrong to describe Euro 6/VI vehicles as ‘highly polluting’, as some stakeholders do.
Between the first Euro standard and the first version of Euro 6, there has been a real reduction in emissions of more than 90%. Even though Euro 7 will bring further marginal benefits, we would achieve a much greater improvement in air quality by replacing old vehicles with highly efficient Euro 6/VI models in parallel with the transition to fleet electrification. Without the renewal of older fleets in particular, such as the one in the Czech Republic (the second oldest in the EU), Euro 7 would then have the opposite effect on the environment to that claimed.
Ahead of the European Parliament plenary vote on 8 November, we therefore call on MEPs to continue the good work that has been done and to support a responsible and balanced approach to the further development of Euro 7 and the EU car industry. Our efforts should be focused on achieving the already ambitious decarbonisation targets and maintaining the competitiveness of the Czech and, by extension, the European car industry in the international arena.
