Massimo Artusi, vice-president of Federauto with responsibility for Truck&Van and member of the Board of the European dealers’ association AECDR, has released the following statements regarding the preparatory work for the Plenary Assembly of the European Parliament on 21 November.
«A few days before the decisive session of the European Parliament which will have to decide on the standards and times for the green transition of trucks and buses, in view of the final “Trilogue”, it is crucial for the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the supply chain that the options prevail and the more pragmatic amendments in defense of technological neutrality, allowing the Plenary Assembly to reach a more reasonable vote”.
«It is vital for our sector», added Artusi, «that the most balanced proposals for a gradual and truly effective transition for the system’s decarbonisation objectives are advanced with conviction in the plenary session – which constitutes the institution that best represents the democratic will of European voters. It is about formalizing the opinions already approved by the Parliamentary Transport and Industry Commissions, which had already ruled in favor of less ideological and more realistic solutions, overcoming the preliminary rulings subsequently imposed by the Parliamentary Environment Commission”.
«Precisely in the face of the contradictory orientations expressed by the various Commissions of the European Parliament» – continued the vice-president of Federauto – «we believe it is essential that the Assembly is put in a position to review both the timing and the unrealistic standards of the proposal being discussed, and the identification of technological solutions capable of enabling the decarbonisation of the sector, also through the use – with the introduction of an adequate carbon correction factor (CCF) – of power supplies other than electric traction, starting with biofuels and from renewable fuels, which already have a zero carbon footprint today, and therefore combine the needs of CO2 abatement with market dynamics”.
«This would be a fundamental and immediate contribution to safeguarding the environment» – concluded Artusi – «especially while waiting for the transition towards electrification to be able to purify from its life cycle all the climate-altering agents currently discharged into the atmosphere by the extraction of raw materials and their processing, from the production of electricity – still mainly from fossil sources – and from the disposal of the very heavy batteries necessary to power the engines”.