EU to ban all new sales of combustion engine cars by 2035, Wales scraps all major road building projects

France 24
Tue, 14 Feb 2023 12:00 UTC

© Lukas Barth, Reuters

Cars drive on the Mittlerer Ring in Munich, Germany, February 1, 2023.

The European Parliament on Tuesday gave its final approval to a ban on new sales of carbon-emitting petrol and diesel cars by 2035, with a view to getting them off the continent's roads by mid-century.

European Union member states have already approved the legislation and will now formally nod it into law at an upcoming ministerial meeting, despite opposition from conservative MEPs, the parliament's biggest group.

Supporters of the bill had argued to that it would give European carmakers a clear timeframe in which to switch production to zero-emission electric vehicles, and spur investment to counter competition from China and the United States.

Comment: The idea that banning something will somehow spur innovation regardless of the fact that it's considered to be a technological impossibility reveals just how deluded, or corrupt, these people are.

This, in turn, will also support the European Union's ambitious plan to become a "climate neutral" economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

"Let me remind you that between last year and the end of this year China will bring 80 models of electric cars to the international market," EU vice president Frans Timmermans warned MEPs.

Comment: 80 models that operate on much the same technology and under similar constraints as the rest, such as battery life, time taken to charge, and so on.

There are a great many needs of our society, from building homes to farming food, and yet in the West we do not see groundbreaking innovation solving these problems - that in addition just seem to be getting - and so why on earth would cars be any different?

"These are good cars. These are cars that will be more and more affordable, and we need to compete with that. We don't want to give up this essential industry to outsiders."

But opponents argued that neither European industry nor many private motorists are ready for such a dramatic cut off in production of internal combustion engine vehicles -- and that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk.

"Our proposal is ... to let the market decide what technology is best to reach our goals," said MEP Jens Gieseke, a member of the centre-right European People's Party.

Gieseke declared that arguments from Green and socialist MEPs that electric cars are cheaper to run had been rendered "null and void" by the crisis of soaring energy costs.

"In Germany 600,000 people work on ICE production, those jobs are at risk," he declared, urging the European Commission to rethink plans to also extend the ban to trucks and buses.

The EPP group warned of what it said would be the "Havana effect" - Europeans continuing to drive vintage fuel-burning cars after new sales are banned because they can't find or afford an electric.

Comment: Or because they don't want an EV?

Opponents also argue car batteries are produced abroad by Europe's competitors like the United States, but Timmermans argued that thanks to EU-backed investment European production would increase.

Green MEPs stressed the importance of the ban in reducing emissions and pollution.

Victory for the planet?

Karima Delli, president of the transport committee, declared: "Today's vote is a historic vote for the ecological transition.

"We will no longer, or almost no longer, have petrol or diesel cars on our roads in 2050 ... it is a victory for our planet and our populations"

Cars currently account for about 15 percent of all CO2 emissions in the EU, while transportation overall accounts for around a quarter.

Comment: CO2 emissions are of little import; other kinds of air pollution do indeed harm health but banning combustion cars will simply cause a number of other problems that jeapordise health.

In October last year, EU member states, the European Commission and parliament's negotiators agreed on a proposal to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe to zero by 2035.

In practice, in the final legislation, this means a halt to sales of new petrol and diesel cars, light commercial vehicles and hybrids in the bloc by that date, in favour of all-electric vehicles.

US green subsidies

Car-making giant Germany and conservative MEPs have been dubious about the new rules, fearing the burden of re-tooling their plants and retraining workers while global rivals have looser targets.

But the European car industry itself did not lobby hard against the law, with many firms already jockeying for position in the race to become electric vehicle giants.

Comment: Rather curious, because pharmaceutical companies sure lobby hard when their interests are threatened.

Since the law began its journey through the EU legislative process, however, the United States has unveiled a huge plan to subsidise the green transition of its own industry with government hand-outs.

This has led to fears in Europe that its US rival will siphon away investment and jobs in electric vehicle and battery production.

Currently around 12 percent of new cars sold in the European Union are electric, with consumers shifting away from CO2-emitting models as energy costs and greener traffic regulations bite.

Comment: One wonders how the energy crisis is impacting these sales of EVs.

Meanwhile, China - the world's biggest automobile market - wants at least half of all new cars to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2035.

Comment: China 'wants' cars to be electric, whilst the EU enforces a ban - and it's China that's the dictatorship?

The law passed the Strasbourg assembly by 340 votes to 279, with 21 abstentions.

Comment: The BBC reports that over in the UK, Wales have scrapped all major road building projects citing 'environmental concerns'; rather sinister how this converges with the sudden push for '15/20-minute cities': Coming soon: Climate lockdowns and the "15 minute city" - courtesy of the WEF

The planned third Menai bridge will not go ahead and neither will the controversial "red route" in Flintshire.

The move is part of the Welsh government's National Transport Plan and follows a year-long review.

Environmental campaigners called it "world-leading and brave" but some in the construction industry warned the announcement could put jobs at risk.

It comes as the Welsh government is accused of endangering bus services as a senior minister said industry subsidies have yet to be confirmed beyond summer.

Plans for a third Menai crossing have been scrapped in their current form

The Welsh government said all future roads must pass strict criteria which means they must not increase carbon emissions, they must not increase the number of cars on the road, they must not lead to higher speeds and higher emissions, and they must not negatively impact the environment.

Vague and broad enough to mean, as the header says, all major road works will be banned.

Flintshire council leader Ian Roberts was disappointed by the decision.

"The council is concerned that there are currently no alternative solutions being put forward and no funding for much needed improvement works to local transport infrastructure," he said.

It comes as Ken Skates said Welsh government decisions on roads for the north should be made locally.

The Clwyd South Senedd member and former Welsh transport minister said certainty over how transport in north Wales would be improved was needed.

"I firmly believe that decisions over roads, buses, rail and active travel are best made at a regional level," he said.

"It's time to devolve to the north, beginning with our major roads."

A second Labour Senedd member questioned the move by his party.

Blaenau Gwent's Alun Davies called for "more joined up thinking" by ministers.

"If we're going to take services away from people in terms of distance, then what we have to be able to do is to provide the public transport options available for people to reach those services, and that hasn't happened," he added.

Indeed. You'll own nothing, go nowhere, and you'll be happy.

Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters told the Senedd the approach of the last 70 years was not working.

"We will not get to net zero unless we stop doing the same thing over and over," he said.

"None of this is easy but neither is the alternative."

To reach net zero by 2050, he said, the Welsh government must "be prepared to follow through".

The deputy minister insisted new roads would be built in future, but said the government was "raising the bar" to ensure any new road was "the right response to transport problems".

In 2021, the Welsh government announced it was conducting a roads review.

An expert panel, led by transport consultant Lynn Sloman, assessed 59 road projects and made recommendations on which projects to proceed with, which to abandon and which to reconsider in a different form.

Of these, 15 will go ahead, but all the rest have been rejected or will be revised.

A decaying infrastructure will inevitably leads to accidents and will hinder all other kinds of progress and development.

However, these and all future projects must adhere to a new set of strict criteria in order to be built.

The Welsh government will not consider new projects unless they reduce carbon emissions and support a shift to public transport, walking and cycling, improve safety through small-scale change and help the Welsh government adapt to the effects of climate change.

They must also provide connections to jobs and areas of economic activity in a way that maximises the use of public transport, walking and cycling.

Cycling to work in the UK, on a rainy day, mid-winter...

[...]

"If we want people to walk, wheel, or cycle alongside using public transport, we need continued investment in improving infrastructure that supports that."

On Twitter, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Labour ministers in the Senedd won't build new roads in Wales because they'll 'induce demand'.

"Because encouraging more visitors to Wales and money into our economy is obviously a bad thing."

Plaid Cymru's Delyth Jewell said many of the areas where road building projects were being paused were already underserved by public transport links.

"We, of course, have to change that over-reliance on cars, but it won't happen overnight. It's the transition period that I'm most concerned about," she said.

She said a pause in road building without more guaranteed investment in public transport could mean longer journeys, increased travel costs and reduced access to important services.

Liberal Democrat leader, Jane Dodds, welcomed the announcement.

She said: "For too long, we've spent millions on new roads with no real improvements in road safety or congestion."