European Parliament Moves Closer To Banning Diesel Cars

The aftermath of the VW emissions cheating scandal or Dieselgate as is known globally has resulted in severe implications in continental Europe. With a slew of cities voting to ban diesel cars from their town centres in the near future, the popularity of diesel cars will eventually see a downward graph. The European Government too is looking for a complete overhaul on both licensing and testing methods after current European norms came under immense scrutiny and criticism for being too lax on the subject of emissions control. The Government recently voted in overwhelming majority on a draft bill that proposed a more powerful EU oversight.

By Cyrus Dhabhar

1 mins read

Published on April 5, 2017

Highlights

EU Government proposes stricter laws for emissions regulations, control
EU countries to fund their own pollution testing facilities
No watchdog style organisation formed to keep pollution in check

The aftermath of the VW emissions cheating scandal or ‘Dieselgate’ as is known globally has resulted in severe implications in continental Europe. With a slew of cities voting to ban diesel cars from their town centres in the near future, the popularity of diesel cars will eventually see a downward graph. The European Government too is looking for a complete overhaul on both licensing and testing methods after current European norms came under immense scrutiny and criticism for being too lax on the subject of emissions control. The Government recently voted in overwhelming majority on a draft bill that proposed a more powerful EU oversight. This draft law also outlines how the EU will now take responsibility (in the near future) for exhaust testing and countries that are a part of the EU will take on the responsibility of setting up and funding test centers instead of the automotive manufacturers funding it themselves. The countries can then levy a charge on the auto makers to add to the overall funding. The new draft bill also proposes a fine of up to thirty thousand euros per car on automakers to compensate car owners through market surveillance. European commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska mentioned how these new rules would work in favor of getting diesel cars off the roads and how the popularity of diesel might actually drop much faster than originally expected. Demand for diesel cars is set to drop to only 30 percent of total car sales in the EU region by 2020, down from about 50 percent or half the market share that it enjoys today. Between developing new technology and platforms that will underpin the electric mobility solutions that all manufacturers are scrambling to introduce and the drop in diesel popularity, financial institutions forecast a five percent drop in earning for major European automakers post 2020. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and PSA though are set to be in the race to make the most out of the drop in interest in diesel with their longer range electric cars that are set to be launched soon. Mercedes-Benz for example have recently announced a barrage of new model rollouts that will be battery powered by 2022 with internal combustion continuing to see development but only in the interim stage. How this will affect jobs in the automotive industry in the long term though is a matter of concern as about one third of the jobs in research, development and manufacturing (component and auto makers) are related to drive trains and drive line integration. The European Government though has not outlined any plans for an independent committee to overlook all emission related issues. The United States on the other hand with the EPA or Environmental Protection Agency does have both the power to overview manufacturers and pull them up if found to be breaking the rules.