MEPs have approved a compromise deal that brings closer a new directive making it obligatory for local authorities to seek cleaner vehicles for public transport contracts.
The directive will mean any authority buying vehicles for a public transport contract will have to have taken energy consumption and emissions of CO2 and pollutants into account. The EU’s transport commission Antonio Tajani said the directive would ‘send a clear signal to the market and to citizens on the competitive value of technologies which save energy and protect the environment.’
Europe must stand firm over its future targets for carmakers as it cannot afford to fall further behind China.
The decision to create a Europe-wide carbon price was right but creates significant political risk. The good news is it can still be fixed.
It's about time the EU requires parts of key products to be made locally – and nowhere is this more urgent than in the battery sector.