Italy rejects ‘ideological’ EU ban on combustion engines

(EurActiv, 2 Mar 2023) taly says no to the EU regulation banning internal combustion vehicles by 2035 unless the EU Commission revises its position and proposes environmentally and economically sustainable alternatives.

After the Environment and Energy Security Ministry announced Italy’s negative vote on the proposed EU regulation, the Swedish EU presidency decided to postpone from Wednesday to Friday the planned vote at the meeting of the Deputy Permanent Representatives (Coreper I) on the sale stop of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 .

“With our ‘No’ vote we have woken up Europe. We hope others will understand that it is time for reason, certainly not resignation. Change is possible,” Enterprise and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso (FDI/ECR) commented on Twitter.

Urso supports the Swedish presidency’s choice, which will allow for a “more meaningful reflection” on the issue in light of the events that have turned Europe upside down: first the pandemic and, later, the war in Ukraine.

Italy’s condition in order to untie the knot and say ‘Yes’ to the new measures is for the European Commission to provide “common sense” alternatives to achieve the EU’s environmental sustainability goals, shared by the Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni (FDI/ECR).

“We must not bind ourselves to a single technology, there must be a choice”, MP Luca Squeri, energy manager for Forza Italia (EPP), told EURACTIV Italy.

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EurActiv, 2 Mar 2023: Italy rejects ‘ideological’ EU ban on combustion engines