The conservative government of Giorgia Meloni in Italy has called on the EU to scrap its green agenda scheme to ban the sale of new combustion engine vehicles by 2035.
Speaking from Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy over the weekend, Rome’s energy minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin bluntly stated that “the ban must be changed,” according to Bloomberg.
Pichetto Fratin described Brussels’ plans to outlaw sales of new combustion engine vehicles by 2035 as “absurd” and driven by a centralised command economy “ideological vision” rather than on the realities on the ground in Europe.
Italian Minister of Economic Development Adolfo Urso expressed a similar sentiment, noting the issues being faced by German auto giant Volkswagen, which is considering shutting down factories in Germany for the first time in its history amid rising energy costs, declining demand for electric vehicles and competition from Communist China.
“In an uncertain landscape which is affecting German automotive industry, clarity is needed to not let the European industry collapse,” Urso said. “Europe needs a pragmatic vision, the ideological vision has failed. We need to acknowledge that.”
Meanwhile, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who represents the populist wing of Prime Minister Meloni’s coalition government, said that his League party plans to introduce legislation in the parliament in Rome to legally commit the government to repeal the EU directive.
“The League is ready to ask for the revocation of the ban on petrol and diesel engines from 2035 by presenting a document to commit the Parliament, the Government and the EU Commission to avoid an economic, social and environmental suicide, the suspension of which is at the centre of the debate also in Germany,” Salvini said on Sunday.
The populist deputy PM also argued that Italy needs to turn towards nuclear energy, saying: “I believe that bringing Italy back into the context of clean, modern and efficient nuclear energy is one of the most important challenges of our government. The development, growth and sustainability of our country are at stake: we can no longer say no.”
According to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory — a branch of the European Commission — electric vehicles saw a ten per cent decline in sales in the year leading up to May compared to the previous year. This is compared to a three per cent decline in sales for the overall car market in the bloc.
The EU is currently in the process of deciding on implementing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. While the European Commission imposed provisional tariffs of up to 37.6 per cent on EV imports from the communist country over its heavily subsidised vehicles, member states remain divided on backing permanent duties.
The main opposition has come from Berlin, given that German auto manufacturers made one-third of all their sales to customers in China last year, and therefore fear that Beijing could use the tariffs on its EVs as an excuse to launch a broader trade war and threaten the profits of companies like BMW and Volkswagen, which could also be hit with tariffs on cars produced in their Chinese plants.
