European Commissioner Frans Timmermans is coming up with new plans that should further stimulate the introduction of electric driving. The proposals include a deadline for phasing out combustion engines and a pollution tax, Timmermans told the British newspaper Financial Times.
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The European Union also wants more charging points. Research shows that 70 percent of all European charging points are located in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Timmermans’ plans are part of his larger climate ambition to make the country bloc climate neutral by 2050. With the plans, Timmermans wants to reduce the costs of electric vehicles and make cleaner cars “accessible to all Europeans”.
Brussels will present a series of measures this month to ensure that the EU manages to reduce average CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. According to Timmermans, stricter emission standards will apply for new cars that are sold over the next ten years. Also, car manufacturers should pay for polluting engines. “We need to do these two things to encourage the introduction of electric vehicles,” said Timmermans.
The EU aims to become the first major economic bloc to be carbon neutral by 2050. Brussels will propose more than a dozen measures on July 14 to translate this goal into legislation. This still requires a majority in the European Parliament and an agreement of the 27 EU Member States before the rules come into effect.
According to Timmermans, the car industry has really embraced the idea that it should become CO2 low. “There will always be discussion about the pace, but I think they have understood that this is the way forward,” he said.
The proposal to make the polluter pay has been criticized in particular by governments in poorer parts of the EU. It would disproportionately disadvantage consumers with the lowest incomes. These people would not be able to easily switch to electric vehicles or alternative forms of green transport.
Timmermans will try to convince Brussels to set up a system that will ease the pain for those most affected by the changes. “The sense of urgency is not the same everywhere in Europe,” he admits. “If your overarching concern is making it to the end of the month, then the end of life on Earth isn’t something you think about every day.”
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