Rome seeks to accelerate CO₂ targets reassessment amid global competition and market downturn.
Italy has launched a campaign to expedite the EU’s review of car emissions rules, aiming to rally member states behind a proposal to bring forward the planned 2026 reassessment to the first half of 2023. The move comes as Rome seeks to bolster the ailing European automotive sector amid intensifying global competition.
Adolfo Urso, Italy’s enterprise minister, told reporters after meeting MEPs in Brussels that the current review timeline risked leaving companies and consumers in limbo for another two years, jeopardising the bloc’s 2035 emissions targets. “We are certain that with this review timeline, we won’t achieve the objectives we have established for 2035 – so we must accelerate,” he said.
Urso’s push comes as the European automotive sector grapples with plummeting car production and declining electric car sales. The minister argued that an early review was crucial to clarify the sector’s future, particularly in light of aggressive measures by China and the US to green their industries and hike trade tariffs.
Italy’s proposal, outlined in an informal policy proposal known as a ‘non-paper’, advocates for technological neutrality, leveraging all available technologies such as biofuels and hydrogen to meet emissions targets. Urso cited former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report, which criticised EU frameworks for not sufficiently considering technological neutrality.
The proposal also calls for increased public investment to complement national investments and stimulate private funding. Urso pointed to Draghi’s estimate that Europe’s additional annual investment needs – around €800 billion – cannot be met through private funding alone.
Moreover, Italy is pushing for the EU to boost its strategic autonomy, particularly in securing critical raw materials necessary for green technologies. Urso stressed that all green transition targets should revolve around “the principle of strategic autonomy and economic security.”
However, Urso acknowledged that if the EU cannot guarantee secure raw material value chains and meet the proposed conditions, the bloc may have to consider postponing the 2035 emissions target – an option he described as subordinate and undesirable.
Italy’s initiative comes at a time when Paris and Berlin have been relatively quiet on the subject. Rome is seizing the opportunity to rally consensus among member states ahead of the European Commission’s presentation of its industrial plan for the automotive industry.
Image: Copyright: European Union
