Automotive News Europe — 2025-01-27
Automotive Industry
French ministers are calling for the European Commission to immediately suspend standards for car emissions on the grounds that the regulation benefits Chinese automakers and Tesla.
Implementing the regulation “would be a political error that would damage the credibility of our Union and its industrial strategy,” three ministers including minister of Europe Benjamin Haddad, industry and energy minister Marc Ferracci and ecology chief Agnes Pannier-Runacher said in an op-ed published on 24 January 2025 in Les Echos.
“A rigid stance,” the op-ed read, “would result in billions transferred to Chinese manufacturers, some of whom have conquered their European market share through unfair trade practices, or to Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is openly attacking European regulations and values.”
European automakers have long complained that 2025 emissions targets could cost billions of euros to comply with in the midst of slowing demand for electric vehicles.
Earlier this week, Germany’s Volkswagen Group estimated that the EU emissions standards would cost the company €1.5 bn ($1.6 bn) this year.
France’s Renault similarly may need to pay fines or compensate an EV maker for help with hitting the targets.
The French government separately has called for a “massive” regulatory pause, starting with ESG rules, and reducing the scope of an EU regulation that requires companies to provide transparency on their environmental impact.
The three ministers refer to a “sword of Damocles” imperiling an industry that employs some 3.5 m Europeans. They praise EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for opening a dialogue on the future of the auto industry but say the fines must first be suspended.
They suggest allowing European carmakers to smooth out the targets to be reached over three to five years, by 2030.