They began yesterday in Brussels the commissioners’ hearings designated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, to define the new executive. There is also one of the MEPs who came under scrutiny Apostolos Tzitzikostasthe new delegate for transport, who today defined his action plan.
Tzitzikostas said, in front of the Transport Commission, that, regarding the stop heat engines scheduled for 2035, intends to continue straight ahead. However, he shares Ursula Von Der Leyen’s opinion and wants to include the synthetic fuels in legislation.
Tzitzikostas obtained a positive opinion, but the official ratings of the hearings will be announced on 21 November, when the Conference of Presidents will declare the hearings closed.
You have to “stick to the plan”
Tzitzikostas belongs to the conservatives, which at European level are organized in the European People’s Party (EPP), of which von der Leyen is also a member. “We have specific rules and objectives that we want… and we have to stick to the plan – Tzitzikostas said today -. Otherwise, the message that the European Union will send… is not a message of stability and trust“.
The “Green Deal”, which includes, among other things, the so-called “phasing out of combustion engines”, therefore seems destined to come true and the Commissioner-designate for Transport does not seem to want to soften the CO2 targets for 2025 either.
The electric car remains the priority
Tzitzikostas’ plan is still unclear and Europe is grappling with it the biggest automotive crisis in historywith factories about to close and thousands of layoffs in sight. In his rather vague speech, the commissioner nevertheless promised support for producers.
“I can’t say whether it will be done with incentives or taxation, but I can’t rule out legislative action,” he said, referring to the need for electrify company fleetswhich in Europe represent around half of all new registrations.
Italy and Croatia together
Meanwhile today in Rome, at the Palazzo Piacentini, the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, received the Croatian Minister of Economy, Ante Šušnjar, ensuring support for the Italian non-paper on the automotive sector which proposes to anticipate to early 2025 the activation of the revision clause of the European regulation on CO2 emissions from light vehicles.
The document, which is being signed by the countries that share the Italian position, also raises some fundamental questions including the need for common resources to be invested in the sector to recover competitiveness on a global level, in a context of true technological neutrality and aiming for strategic autonomy in green technologies. “For us it is very important and it is also very important for Europe”, said Urso.
Source: it.motor1.com
