Fear of European Commissioner
'Banning diesels is counterproductive on the environment'
In more and more European countries, noises are being made to ban diesel vehicles in cities and to limit the sale of new vehicles. Tax benefits are being phased out. A wrong aim, according to Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Industry. She fears a collapse of the diesel market.
Bieńkowska writes in a confidential letter to European ministers that banning diesel vehicles could backfire on what the EU is trying to achieve. The development of clean technologies is being inhibited by this, the European Commissioner believes. The Financial Times got hold of this letter.
34
thousand
The Netherlands leads the way
Rotterdam and Utrecht, among others, have had environmental zones for some time, where old diesel vehicles are no longer welcome. Figures from Statistics Netherlands show that the number of registered diesel vehicles, built before 2001, has now decreased by 34.000 due to these rules. Paris, Madrid and Athens will start with a diesel ban in 2025. The German city of Stuttgart will start with this in 2018.
Clap for vehicle owner
Banning polluting diesels is the hobbyhorse of green NGOs. They want to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Bieńkowska's opinion is at odds with that philosophy. The Polish states that a ban could be counterproductive. In her letter she points to negative effects. After the whole cheating software scandal, she again calls such bans a blow to owners.
Diesel market could collapse
In addition, some countries have in the past stimulated the sale of diesels with tax breaks. Until 2014, an advantage was given in the Netherlands by exempting diesel vehicles from road tax. France has been phasing out tax breaks on diesel vehicles since 2015. "A ban means that diesel cars cannot be driven everywhere in Europe, while this has been encouraged in the past," writes Bieńkowska. This ban could lead to a collapse of the diesel market, which would hinder manufacturers. This undermines the development of new technologies.
Incentivize manufacturers
The European Commissioner emphasizes that she would like to move towards zero emissions in Europe, but when the diesel market collapses, it is counterproductive. Local driving bans don't help with that. As a solution, Bieńkowska suggests that more checks should be carried out to detect cheating vehicles. Manufacturers must also be encouraged to develop new technologies more quickly, but also by recalling polluting cars.
Niels van der Boom
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