Green house and car, Timmermans does not give up
Electric car and green house: the refrain of Europe does not pause and continues to resound, terrifying, in the ears of Italians. Two blows to the pockets of the Italians that the government is trying to counter or make less burdensome, with common sense initiatives. But the pressing of the EU does not subside and does so from the columns of the Republic and of Press through the words of the Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans. “Italy has to make choices. An economy cannot grow on dead land. So there can be no opposition between the environment, climate protection and economics”. And therefore full speed ahead on the electric car and the European directive on green houses, without second thoughts for measures of dubious usefulness, especially the electric car, but which, for sure, will turn into draining the pockets of citizens and into permanent damage for the European economy and industrial fabric.
To explain why the discussion does not want to be open is Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of Environment and Energy Security. Timmermans “has a very tough and very clear stance. We are in the last year of the commission and there is an acceleration to close some games that are his flags “. Indeed, the European Commission will end its mandate in 2024 and it is said that with the new Parliament the priorities on such controversial issues will not change.
Pichetto Fratin: “On the car, open up to biofuels”
But what did Timmermans say? He confirmed that he has no second thoughts about the two hot topics that are dividing Europe. The Vice-President of the Commission, a Republic, argues that, on the car, “Europe leaves the choice of technology to the industry. We are not the ones to say what they should use, but from 2035 the cars produced in Europe will be zero-emissions. That’s not to say the other cars won’t be around anymore. The cars with the combustion engine will still be there, but the new cars will not be able to emit CO2”. Effectively therefore throwing the ball back into the field of Germany and Italy.
Italy, however, does not want to bow and aims to include in the agreement the possibility of producing combustion engines even after 2035. “What we are asking is to stick to the scientific side and not just the ideological one. If our goal is decarbonization, electric is the main vehicle for doing so, but not the only one”. The government doesn’t want to prevent the spread of electric cars, but wants it not to be “a European regulation that obliges electric cars. There are evolutions of the internal combustion engine that allow it to be used with synthetic fuels as Germany says, without forgetting biofuels as Italy says which is the only one producing them right now. Italy and Germany are the only ones to pose the problems because they are in a different situation”.
Huge costs for the house
Timmermans has not mitigated his stance on the green housing directive either. At the Press he explained that “it is not true that 70% of Italian houses have to be renovated in a few years”, but that the first tranche of buildings to be renovated will concern “at most the 15% least efficient of the buildings”.
However, the numbers say otherwise: “We have 31 million properties, of which 20 million should be adequate. We remove the constrained ones and 11 million remain. My reasoning is: if with 110 billion we have adjusted 360 thousand – said Pichetto Fratin referring to the damage caused to the public finances by the Superbonus – how much money is needed for 11 million?”. The costs would be appalling and the State and citizens would pay.
Italy leader in the circular economy
While green homes and cars are being discussed, Italy continues to play its part in recycling. “Italy is the leader in Europe in the circular economy and we intend to maintain this leadership. We are working within the Community to defend a winning national model, which other countries would instead like to question”, said Pichetto Fratin, on the occasion of the World Recycle Day.
“In almost all the packaging fractions – adds Pichetto – Italy already today far exceeds the European targets, a sign of the constant commitment of a system that never stops investing in sustainability, obtaining flattering results. The national strategy for the circular economy and the programs for waste prevention and management provide us with the overall picture that is needed to achieve the objectives”. A leadership that will continue to strengthen: with the Pnrr, 192 projects in the circular economy were recently given the go-ahead.