Socialists and Democrats are committed to phasing out fossil
fuels and to transforming the European transport landscape in
order to make it sustainable for the health of people, for the
health of the planet, and also for the health of everyone’s
pocket.
Currently 94% of Europe’s transport sector is dependent on oil,
90% of which has to be imported. At the same time transport is
the only major economic sector in the EU where greenhouse gas
emissions have increased since 1990, thus weakening our efforts
to meet the UN Climate Goals agreed on in Paris.
Today, the parliamentary committee on transport backed the
proposal by S&D MEP Ismail Ertug to introduce binding
national targets in the existing Directive on the deployment of
alternative fuels infrastructure. Unfortunately, the binding
targets for each member state as foreseen in the European
Commission’s proposal were deleted when the Directive was
approved in 2014. Now the evaluation of the National Framework
Plans (NFP) show the gap between member states and that of the
NFPs.
Ismail Ertug, who is the S&D spokesperson and the author of
the parliamentary report, said:
“Today’s result is a strong signal that will facilitate the
uptake of low- and zero-emission vehicles and therefore the
overall goal of decarbonisation. We urge the Commission to
accelerate the revision of the Directive, come up with strong
infrastructure targets and, most importantly, more funding for
alternative fuels infrastructure. We already lost precious time
due to the omission of the Commission and the inaction of member
states - nevertheless it is not too late yet.
“I am happy that the transport committee followed my
recommendation urging the Commission for stronger targets and
sufficient public funding. Furthermore, we strongly advocate the
need of the rural areas for sufficient infrastructure, as there
should be no European region lagging behind in the transition
towards low-emission mobility.
“Out of roughly 800.000 charging points envisaged by 2025, only a
few more than 100.000 are already in place. For compressed
natural gas (CNG) more than two thirds of filling stations are
yet to be built. For hydrogen - which is not mandatory under the
Directive - the situation is even worse.
“As there are different modes, different types and environments
of transport which have their own specific requirements as
regards fuels and powertrain technologies, a mix of alternative
fuels is the most promising approach in the medium term.
Electrification, for instance, might be the most appropriate
technology to decarbonise car traffic, whereas for other types of
traffic, such as long distance heavy duty transport, decarbonised
and low-carbon fuels will be needed. So their availability must
be also ensured.”
