Contact us T +32 (0)2 626 07 20 | info@europeangreens.eu

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Flickr

Donate

  • Login to your account
  • User account
  • About Us
    • Organisation
    • People
    • Networks and Working Groups
    • Guidelines
  • Our Positions
    • Positions
    • Resolutions
    • Policy Papers
    • Manifesto
  • Get involved
    • Climate Action
    • European Green Recovery Campaign
    • Green Talking Heads
    • European Ideas Lab
    • The Green Screen
    • Local Councillors' Network
    • Trans-Inclusive Feminist Campaign
  • Member Parties
  • News
    • News
    • Press Releases
    • Brand Assets
    • Communications Team
  • Events
Home
  • About Us
  • Our Positions
  • Get involved
  • Member Parties
  • News
  • Events

Share
Share on FacebookShare on Twittershare on Linked Inshare on Google Plusshare via email

 

Last Wednesday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament did not manage to overcome the manipulative and blackmailing lobby of the automotive industry and did not obtain a majority to reject the Commission’s proposal to dilute and delay the obligation to comply with the emission limits from diesel engines. These were established in a Regulation in 2007 and were supposed to be implemented in all the new models starting September 2015. Also, at that time there were harsh battles with the same vehicle manufacturers and several postponements. Nevertheless, the emission standard for vehicles which was approved in the framework of the Euro 5/6 Regulation, provided a limit of 80 mg/km for NOx emissions from diesel vehicles, to be in compliance with “normal use”, and therefore, not only in the type approval test carried out in the laboratory. But also in real circumstances outside of a laboratory.

On the 19th of May last year, the Technical Committee – Motor Vehicles (TCMV) approved the regulation implementing the measures in Real Driving Conditions (Real Driving Emissions – RDE). This regulation provides a framework for the introduction of experimental tests on vehicles on the streets, with Portable Emission Measuring Systems (PEMS) starting from January 2016. This Committee is composed of government representatives and Commission representatives.

The same Committee also adopted another regulation concerning the use of a so-called “compliance factor” in order to determine “limits which must not be exceeded”. This decision thwarts the legal limits in place for many years, allowing all diesel vehicles sold on the EU market until 2021 to exceed 110 percent of the NOx limit – (replacing the limit value of 80 mg/km with 168mg/km) – and 50 percent after 2021 – (changing the limit from 80mg to 120 mg/km).

The Committee on the Environment would not take this and decided to challenge the Technical Committee’s decision, because it believes that the law has been changed and its co-legislation powers have been disregarded. In order to block it, however, it needed a absolute majority vote of the plenary of the European Parliament (376 votes) which was held in Strasbourg on February 3rd.

 In the days prior to the vote, the powerful automotive lobby unleashed itself. Among others, some members of Parliament were swarmed with emotional emails of employees explaining that, if the EP rejected these measures, starting from “next Monday” production would begin to shut down! The Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Lavia (EPP), despite the decision of the majority of its members of Parliament, declared like many other members of his party and of the right wing that the Greens want to put a plug on the exhaust pipes and close the factories. In the end, also thanks to many governments who worked diligently and energetically with the manufacturers, the 375 votes needed for the dispute to be adopted were not acquired and the objection was defeated.

The message is clear. After the Volkswagen scandal, despite the fact that our cities are suffocating in  smog, despite the 500.000 premature deaths and 940 billion expenses per year, it is better to raise the limits rather than to meet the standards.

In short, the fact that the pollution from nitrogen dioxide, mainly due to nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel vehicles, is solely responsible for 75,000 premature deaths in Europe every year, did not seem to be a compelling argument for 323 members of Parliament. This includes, helas, 43 member of S&D including several PSOE members and the draftperson of the deirective on circular economy Simona Bonafe.

At the end of this sad day, there is no use in accusing the usual lobbyists. They are not the ones who vote. The point is to understand why, a few weeks away from the conclusion of the COP21 in Paris, a few months away from the VW global scandal, while cities are covered in smog, the blackmailing of the car manufacturers who do not want to adapt to a changing world is stronger than all health and innovation considerations.

Monica Frassoni
EGP Co-Chair

Brussels, 3rd February 2016

Recent News

Icon:
Co-Chairs Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel
Title:

Our newly elected Co-Chairs Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz share their vision for the future of the European Greens

Post date:
12 July 2022
Body:

Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz speak on the future of the European Green Party, the current political priorities for the Greens, and how they're getting ready for the 2024 elections.

Icon:
Title:

Sustainable agriculture can help tackle a food crisis fuelled by climate shocks and war

Post date:
08 July 2022
Body:

Together, Russia and Ukraine exported more than a quarter of the world's wheat before the war. Now, the war is impacting food security across the globe. As Greens, we believe that food should never be used as a geopolitical weapon – and we should never be in the position for it to be used against us.

Position:
Environment & Food
Icon:
Title:

The end of Roe vs. Wade in the US must push us to defend abortion rights in Europe

Post date:
30 June 2022
Body:

European Greens Co-Chair Mélanie Vogel (France), and Committee Members Mina Jack Tolu (Malta) and Malgorzata Tracz (Poland) speak out on the current state of abortion rights in Europe. Access to safe, legal and free abortion must be guaranteed across Europe and abroad to create a more humane world for all and protect those most marginalised!

More News

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
Tweet Contents:

🇯🇵 In 1945 the US detonated 2 atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki

☢️ Now, @antonioguterres signals nuclear threats from the war in Ukraine and international tensions put us 'one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation'

🕊 Only a nuclear-free world can prevent catastrophe https://t.co/gcjkOIGPvg

Tweet Author:
europeangreens
Creation Date:
1 day ago
Tweet Contents:

RT @Melanie_Vogel_: La Chine est une dictature.

Un dictature qui organise le genocide des #Ouighours, menace illégitimement #Taiwan et sa…

Tweet Author:
europeangreens
Creation Date:
2 days ago
Tweet Contents:

RT @DritanAbazovic: Sto dana. Puno rada i još više rezultata. Tek će da bude. 🇪🇺🇲🇪🇪🇺🇲🇪 https://t.co/mxQt1h4lsD

Tweet Author:
europeangreens
Creation Date:
2 days ago

Sign up to our newsletter

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Fill in the blank.

Take charge of your future. Donate Green.

Chip in today to help us build a Greener Europe!

Donate

  • Organisation
    • About
    • History
    • Councils
    • Congresses
    • Finance Advisory Board
    • Amendments Committee
    • Conciliation Panel
  • People
    • Committee
    • Team
    • Vacancies
    • Traineeships
  • Networks and Working Groups
    • Networks
      • Balkan
      • Mediterranean
      • Gender
      • tilt!
      • Queer
      • Local Councillors
      • Seniors
      • Disability
    • Working Groups
      • Foreign and Security Policy
      • Future of Europe
      • Trade
  • Guidelines
    • Charter
    • Statutes
    • Rulebook
    • Finances
    • Privacy Policy
  • Our Positions
    • Positions
    • Resolutions
    • Policy Papers
    • Manifesto
  • Member Parties
  • News
    • News
    • Press Releases
    • Brand Assets
    • Communications Team
  • Events
  • Campaigns
    • The Green Screen
    • Climate Action for the People and the Planet
    • Trans-Inclusive Feminist Campaign
    • European Green Recovery Campaign
  • Donate
Home

Rue du Taciturne 34

B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

T +32 (0) 2 626 07 20

info@europeangreens.eu

© European Greens - With the financial support of the European Parliament. Sole liability remains with the author.

cookies