Spain, Germany and Italy have been in favor of the European Commission’s proposal that from 2035 only the sale of new ‘zero emission’ cars and commercial vehicles be allowed. This has been stated by government representatives from each country at the European Automotive Climate Summit held in Madrid on May 18, organized by Transport & Environment (T&E).
This summer will be decisive for the European car industry, as in the coming months, European Union lawmakers will decide the date by which all new cars and vans must be ‘zero emission’.
“Renewable energies are the solution, which can allow us to stop depending on fossil fuels and countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and the like. Clean transport is not only the electric vehicle, it is also traveling only when it is necessary to do so, cycling or using public transport”, explained the executive director of T&E, William Todd.
By 2030, 45% of energy consumption is expected to come from renewable sources compared to 22% today. In this sense, the president of the ENVI committee (Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) of the European Parliament, Pascal Canfin, has pointed out that it has taken seven years to duplicate what has been built in decades.
“We have to promote the green transition even more. There is a majority in the European Parliament that supports the objective of 45% in transport, even in the context of war in which we live and in which we have to guarantee the supply of gas”, has highlighted.
Spain and Italy, “laggards” in the transition
The general director of the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), Joan Groizardexplained that in Spain we are “lagging behind”, mainly due to purchasing power and a problem of geography, since 90% of mobility is short distances, but traveling through Spain means making very long trips due to the size of the territory.
Likewise, he stressed that he wants to change the current dependence on “batteries, electric motors, renewables and storage”, emphasizing the importance of the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (Perte VEC).
For its part, Italy is also late compared to the rest of the European countries, with a low number of recharging points and electric vehicles circulating on its roads.
“We know what the reality of our country is, with the oldest vehicle fleet in the EU, coming out of a recession due to the pandemic and an uncertain economic future”, underlined the Minister of Sustainable Transport and Infrastructure of Italy, Enrico Giovani.
Italy has a goal of 6 million electric vehicles by 2030, but sees the change process as difficult because “it will be anything but linear, we need to know what the reaction of the market and of people is, Italians are saving because they are worried about their future”.
At the same time, Christiane RohlederSecretary of State for the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, stressed that this is the first time that Germany has supported such an ambitious low-emissions target.
However, it has recognized that the CO2 emission reduction target “is not going to be enough” as the only means to reach 15 million electric vehicles in 2030.
