BRUSSELS, SEPT 15 – An industry body for European car manufacturers warned of millions of jobs at risk due to possible climate fines for manufacturers in an internal document seen by the German news agency (dpa) yesterday.
The industry is not in a position to comply with the upcoming tightening of European Union (EU) climate regulations, according to an internal paper from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), and as a result, “will face penalties of billions of euros”.
To avoid the fine, the industry “has little choice but to significantly reduce production, which threatens millions of jobs in the EU”, the internal paper said.
The warning to EU regulators comes as manufacturers realize they may not be able to meet EU climate targets in many cases, which could result in heavy fines for the European car industry.
Specifically, the rules relate to the so-called fleet limits. It sets a limit for car carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which the average of all vehicles registered in the EU in a given year cannot exceed.
Currently, the value is 115.1 grams of CO2 per kilometer per vehicle – measured using the WLTP test procedure. It is scheduled to decrease to 93.6 grams in 2025 and 49.5 grams in 2030.
Car manufacturers must pay fines for emitting too much CO2. To stay within that limit, car manufacturers must sell a certain number of electric vehicles and cars with lower emissions.
The fact that the EU’s climate targets are unlikely to be met is partly due to demand for electric vehicles in the bloc currently falling short of expectations. European manufacturers are also struggling with competition from cheaper imports of electric vehicles from non-EU carmakers such as China.
ACEA said in response to queries that it was aware of the internal paper but insisted it was not an official paper from the industry body. – Named
