An Irish MEP is calling on the European Commission and EU member states to review how policy is formed, following comments from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on electric vehicles (EVs).
The ECA is the EU institution which oversees the EU’s budget, monitoring expenditure to ensure it is in line with the EU’s policies.
Members of the ECA have sounded a warning on the EU’s proposal to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2035, suggesting that the cost of EVs is prohibitive for car buyers and that the EU could become reliant on cheaper EV imports from abroad, undermining the bloc’s industrial independence.
According to Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher, the comments from ECA members call in to question how policy is formed and assessed in the EU.
“Last year, as an MEP, I voted to ban the sale of new carbon-emitting cars after 2035, ultimately banning the internal combustion engine as we know it. From an initial policy of view, it makes total sense. We should all be making the switch to electric over the next 10 years,” Kelleher said.
“However, is the EU actually capable of making the switch? Many elements have to go right for it to work; a full charging network across the union, and access to the critical raw material needed to make the batteries in Europe,” he added.
According to the Fianna Fáil MEP, the EU was failing on both of these issues.
“The question of whether the European Commission actually did a proper assessment on this proposal, or did it just do its usual ‘vertical impact’ assessment, which suggests more electric cars equals less emissions, needs to be asked and answered.
“In too many critical policy areas, the commission doesn’t do a proper, detailed, horizontal impact assessment. In many respects, it refuses to look at other factors affecting the proposal, and, downstream, the impact its proposal will have on the wider economy and society,” he said.
“I’m fully supportive of the ban on carbon-emitting vehicles, but we need to have the full details, and the full plans about how it will come about. While the ‘market will respond’ is a good slogan, it does not always work out,” Kelleher added.
Kelleher called on on the commission and member states to take action to ensure the EU reaches its targets for switching to electric vehicles, including by securing the raw materials inside the bloc, or through “responsible” third countries, to manufacture electric batteries.
“On a wider scale, the EU needs to get better at doing impact assessments. Last year, on the debate on the Nature Restoration Law, I pointed out that while an impact assessment was carried out on the actual proposal, no assessment was done on how it would affect farmers, landowners, food productivity or security.
“The next European Commission must change how it plans new proposals so that all citizens can get the benefits of good, sound, coherent, responsible proposals,” Kelleher said.