Jun 23 2022
IRU appalled at European Parliament extension of Emission Trading System to road transport
As IRU has repeatedly pointed out, the Parliament’s environmental committee (ENVI) had submitted an impractical ETS II, which was not fit for purpose.
“We are shocked to see that, despite the industry’s constructive approach, ENVI’s impractical and hostile proposal on ETS II ultimately persuaded the European Parliament to go against the commercial road transport sector,” said IRU’s EU Advocacy Director Raluca Marian.
“The road transport sector is concerned about the very real risk of an increased cost base, without any return and without any realistic chance to shift to zero-emission vehicles any time soon.”
IRU urges a gradual introduction of the ETS, aligned with technology and charging infrastructure developments; the avoidance of multiple taxation/charging for CO2 emissions; the reinvestment of revenues earned from ETS for road back into the road transport sector to help it decarbonise; and the inclusion of both private and commercial road users.
The European Council’s recent watering down of EU ambitions on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure is a clear signal that the shift to zero-emission heavy duty vehicles is not a priority for EU Member States. Therefore, the inclusion of road transport into ETS will lead to an extra charge, without serving as a decarbonisation incentive to transport operators, as long as zero emission alternatives are not sufficiently available.
If the basic condition for the shift to such vehicles – the availability of charging/refuelling infrastructure – is not in place, the EU has no justification for an immediate increase in taxation and charges on CO2 emissions from commercial road transport services. IRU stresses the need for smart taxation that incentivises road transport operators to decarbonise, not a system that penalises them.
“If the Parliament’s view convinces the Council, we foresee a dramatic impact on the industry, on road transport in general, and a major setback to decarbonisation,” adds Raluca Marian. Read more
Source: IRU