Source: https://trans.info/en/iru-euro-7-standards-367658

IRU and European city authorities at odds over vote on Euro 7 standards

The European Parliament’s ENVI Committee has voted in support of a more pragmatic approach to the new Euro 7 pollutant emission standards proposed by Rapporteur Alexandr Vondra. The IRU has welcomed the news, but a network of city authorities across Europe has expressed major disappointment over the outcome of the vote.

Commenting on the vote, IRU EU Advocacy Director, Raluca Marian, said:

“Once again, reason seems to have prevailed, balancing environmental performance with the cost of upgrading technologies. We’re pleased that MEPs have adopted a more realistic timeline and decided to largely keep Euro 6/VI protocols. Road safety and drivers’ security should not be put at risk by introducing systems that are stricter than those already in place.”

Marian added:

“Our sector welcomes limit values for heavy-duty vehicles as long as the resulting price increase does not undermine the competitiveness of smaller operators. Road transport mainly consists of small operators. For example, in Spain and Greece, more than 50% of operators own only one truck.”

However, in a joint response issued yesterday, the Eurocities and Polis organisations (two networks of European cities and regions) expressed “profound disappointment and concern” over the recent vote.

Eurocities and Polis say the measures have fallen short of the expectations of many cities grappling with deteriorating air quality and its detrimental effects on the health of their residents.

André Sobczak, Secretary General of Eurocities, stated:

“We had hoped the European Parliament would prioritise our citizens’ health and the environment. Instead, the new regulation fails to adequately address the urgent challenges we face in air quality. This is unfortunate as in another decision just last month, the European Parliament adopted a more resolute position on air quality and set very ambitious EU air quality goals, which will now have to be implemented.”

The two organisations claim that if the new rules were to be adopted as originally planned, certain studies suggest that Euro 7 could have reduced the pollutant concentration by 50% in cities like Brussels, Warsaw and Paris.

Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General of Polis Network, said:

“Our cities and regions have been at the forefront of addressing the devastating impact of polluted air. The vote on Euro 7 was an opportunity for the European Parliament to stand in solidarity with our urban centres, to signal a move towards a cleaner, healthier future. Regrettably, this opportunity was missed. We now fear that the vote of the EU institutions will shift the burden of improving air quality onto cities and regions, at a time when joint efforts from all stakeholders, public and private, are urgently needed to tackle this major environmental and health challenge.”