The Spanish MEP Susana Solis (C’s) has a critical vote ahead of it next Thursday. The Environment Committee (ENVI) of Parliament will decide the final proposal that they will bring to the plenary session of the chamber in Brussels, on November 9. And it is not clear that they have all the support necessary to move forward.
In fact, of the 88 votes that make up the committee, there would be two that would be decisive for the final approval of a text that will determine, to a large extent, the investments that manufacturers have to make to adapt their thermal engines during the latest technological generation before of its transition to electrification, in 2035.
“The original proposal of the European Commission was completely unapproachable, both in terms of deadlines and requirements,” said Solís at a press conference in Madrid this morning. The vehicles most vulnerable to a tightening of the Euro 7 regulations are those that are powered by small internal combustion engines, in which the Spanish industry specializes.
The Government of Spain, which holds the presidency of the European Council until December 31, 2023, has tried to maintain a neutral position: on the one hand it has the environmental pressure of protecting air quality, and on the other the economic pressure of defending its industry. automotive, the second most powerful in Europe.
In May this year, eight member countries – including producers France and Italy – opposed tightening to the level originally requested by the Commission, which advocated a drastic reduction in NOx, beyond 80 mg per kilometer from Euro 6 to only 30 mg.
Solís will put on the table a proposal that tightens the limits, but in a more moderate way: he proposes that both diesel and gasoline do not exceed the threshold of 60 milligrams. His team, he says, has been in contact with all the manufacturers and the auxiliary industry to really see what is feasible, from an economic and technical point of view, to adapt the engines in current plants.
Furthermore, he considers that it is key to toughen aspects of the original proposal, especially with regard to technologies that will last beyond the transition to electrification. These are tires, batteries – for which a guaranteed autonomy of 75% after 10 years of life is requested – and brakes – whose particles should not exceed 3 mg, instead of the initial 7 mg.
With this, it aims to appease the interests of the green bloc, which it faces and which advocates for stricter regulations. His parliamentary group, Renew Europe – also known as the Alliance of Liberals – has the support of the European PP and the conservative group.
However, the political game is more fluid in the Environment committee, given that voting is not only based on the party, but on the national interests of each deputy. And it is easy to distinguish between states that have an automotive industry and do not, or those that have their transition to zero-emission mobility more developed.
In this regard, Solís considers that the favorable votes of the two Spanish socialist deputies on the committee are key: Cesar Luena and Javi Lopez. Your support could be decisive in such a tight decision.
If all the votes go ahead in the shortest possible time – something that is rare in the European legislative process – it would be approved in the committee on October 12 and in the plenary session of Parliament in November, which would allow Pedro Sánchez’s Government to hang the long-awaited Euro 7 medal.
From there, it would take a year to develop the auxiliary regulations, of which “there are a lot,” according to Solís; and an adaptation period of two years for new vehicles and three for existing ones would be implemented. That is, it would come into force in 2027 at the earliest.
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