Share this on social media

EU Commission prioritises automaker profits in historic failure to reduce toxic pollution from cars and trucks

(Transport and Environment, 10 Nov 2022) 100 million more highly polluting cars will be on our streets for decades to come, when they could be made cleaner for just €300.

The European Commission has rejected its own expert advice on new rules for non-CO2 car emissions – Euro 7 – aimed at slashing deadly pollution from cars. The Commission sided with car lobbyists in a move that will greenwash 100 million heavily polluting cars sold in the decade up to 2035. In a late intervention, the Commission also bowed to further pressure from truckmakers and weakened proposals for particulate matter pollution for heavy duty vehicles.

It is now critical that the European Parliament strengthens these shockingly weak standards or simply rejects them, says Transport & Environment (T&E).

The proposals for cars are so weak, the auto industry might have drafted them themselves. Despite enjoying record profits, carmakers have sold the Commission a lie that an ambitious Euro 7 is unaffordable. The tragedy is that toxic pollution from road transport kills 70,000 people each year and this proposal does close to nothing to prevent that. It will put close to 100 million highly polluting cars on our streets which will stay there for decades to come,” said Anna Krajinska, vehicle emissions and air quality manager at T&E.

Carmakers argued stricter standards would force them to invest in new engine and exhaust technology, diverting resources from electric vehicles. In reality, technologies able to meet stricter limits that could cut toxic pollution by 50% and require no hardware changes to the engine already exist. The Commission’s own impact assessment finds the average cost to be €304,, less than the cost of a paint job on a Renault Clio.

External link

Transport and Environment, 10 Nov 2022: EU Commission prioritises automaker profits in historic failure to reduce toxic pollution from cars and trucks