The Czech government organised a meeting of countries which could jointly fight against the new car emission standards, which according to the country, is unreasonably strict and poses a danger to the European car industry, Hospodářské noviny reported.
According to the Czech Republic, the Euro 7 proposal is unreasonably strict and poses a danger to the European car industry.
To form a group of like-minded countries to create some sort of ‘anti-Euro 7 coalition’, Czechia last week invited representatives of several countries to meet in Brussels and discuss their positions. Ten countries attended the meeting, including France, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and Italy.
According to a report from the meeting that was seen by Hospodářské noviny, the countries agreed that the European Commission’s proposal goes too far, for example, because of the unrealistic timeline for the rollout of the new emission standards.
The proposal envisages stricter standards to be met by European carmakers by 1 July 2025.
States joining the meeting also expressed concern that costs related to the new standards would make smaller cars significantly more expensive.
If the current Euro 7 proposal is approved, vehicles will have to comply with stricter standards for longer. Cars and vans would be checked for the first ten years following the vehicle’s registration and reach a 200,000 kilometres mileage, standards would also apply to brakes and tyres.
“There has been some caution from some countries. They consider the Euro 7 proposal to be justified in terms of introducing emission limits from brakes and tyres and therefore do not want to drop the proposal as a whole,” the document from the meeting reads. However, the countries intend to “avoid extreme positions.”
While the Czech Republic would prefer the proposal not to be made at all, many countries support the need to reduce transport emissions further.
Time for car manufacturers to adapt is thus needed, according to the Czech Republic.
“Strict emission standards are important, but we are worried about imposing too much on car manufacturers. Especially when they have to invest massively in the development of electric cars,” a representative of an EU country, which also attended the meeting, told Hospodářské noviny.
(Aneta Zachová | EURACTIV.cz)
Source: euractiv.com
