Czech Business Today

On April 24, the Czech Chamber of Commerce organized an expert round table that mapped the effects of regulation on companies operating in the automotive industry, on the availability of vehicles and transport services, employment and the Czech economy. An open declaration of Czech industry was signed at the end of the expert panel which hosted the rapporteur of the Euro 7 standard in the European Parliament, Alexandr Vondra, the Minister of Transport Martin Kupka, representatives of the most important business organizations (Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Associations of the Czech Republic) and the automotive industry.

The representatives of the industrial and employer unions of the Czech Republic, expressed full support for the Czech Republic’s position on the European Commission’s proposal for the new Euro 7 emission standards. Due to a number of serious shortcomings and the overall unbalanced nature of the proposal, the proposal brings disproportionately negative impacts not only for the automotive industry of the Czech Republic, but also for transport as a whole, including negative socio-economic consequences, specifically on employment and the price of individual and mass mobility.

The proposed standard tightens the emission limits for passenger and freight transport and brings not only stricter limits for exhaust emissions, but also introduces completely new measurement of emissions from brake and tire wear. Even though the Czech automotive industry intensively supports, through massive investment in the development of emission-free technologies, EU goals aimed at improving air quality and the quality of health of the population, the proposal is viewed as counterproductive. Instead of reducing transport emissions, it effectively diverts much-needed investment resources into zero-emission technologies at a time when the auto industry is undergoing the biggest technological transformation in its history in connection with the transition to zero-emission mobility. At the same time the Czech industry is fighting to maintain its competitiveness and jobs, despite high inflation, the energy crisis and the need to retrain existing employees.

Studies show that even the most stringent Euro 7 scenarios would, at the expected rate of fleet renewal, reduce road transport NOx emissions by less than 5% for cars and vans and by around 2% for trucks. A similar situation also applies to a number of other monitored emissions. On the other hand, systemic support for accelerating the renewal of the vehicle fleet with new vehicles (Euro 6), together with the electrification of new vehicles, would bring about a reduction of NOx emissions in road transport by 80% by 2035 (compared to 2020).

In the middle of 2022, the average age of passenger cars in the Czech Republic reached 15.73 years and the average age of all motor vehicles 18.73 years. This ranks the Czech Republic among the EU countries with the highest average age of the vehicle fleet. There will be an increase in the import of used vehicles and an increase in the period of use of old vehicles. This will defeat a number of commitments and objectives of the Green Deal for Europe.

The Czech industry fully supports all efforts to improve the environment and air quality, but does not consider the presented Euro 7 proposal, in its current form, to be beneficial or realistic. The short time frame for implementation, unclear requirements, questions regarding on-board OBM monitoring or the proposed RDE testing conditions are just some of the many problematic provisions of this regulation and in many cases unrealistic and technically impossible to meet. Therefore, the representatives of industrial and employer unions of the Czech Republic fully support the position of the Czech government, which promotes rational and balanced amendments to the Euro 7 legislation.

Source: Czech Chamber of Commerce