A group of European Union countries are pushing back on efforts to further weaken the emission targets that automakers must reach, according to a position paper obtained by POLITICO.
The seven countries — Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden — cite the energy crisis brought on by the war in Iran as reason to stay the course in meeting the EU’s broader decarbonization targets and reducing fossil fuel dependency.
The coalition also pushes back on industry’s narrative that electric vehicle adoption rates are not keeping pace with the targets. In the first quarter of this year, EV sales in the bloc increased 33 percent year-over-year, the paper says, “demonstrating that this technology is winning over a growing number of citizens and is seen as a response to rising and volatile fuel prices.”
The latest data from car lobby ACEA shows that EV sales increased 38 percent year-over-year in April, going from 145,000 to 200,100.
