Decision on Euro 7 postponed again – the industry worried

Euro 7
The new emission rules will take effect in three years – but what they will look like has not yet been decided.

Euro 7, the forthcoming emission rules for new cars and lorries in Europe, has kept the car industry in full swing ever since the first draft of the new regulations was presented in the autumn of 2020.

Representatives from the industry then said that the rules were so strict that in practice they meant a ban on internal combustion engines. In April of the following year, a revised proposal came that calmed down the car manufacturers – but how hard the rules would be in the end, no one still knew.

Initially, it was said that the final Euro 7 rules would be hammered through by the European Commission at the end of 2021, but it was postponed until April 5 this year. At the end of January this year, the decision was postponed again, until 20 July.

Now both industry and environmental organizations are reacting to the changing timetable, writes Automotive News. ACEA, a lobby group for carmakers in Europe, said at the end of January that they hoped the legislators could agree quickly so that the industry could have time to adapt to the new rules.

At the same time, the environmental organization Transport & Environment in Brussels says they are “very concerned about the delay” of Euro 7, as it “prevents the EU from cleaning up toxic air pollutants caused by road transport”.

The system of European emission standards was introduced with the Euro 1 standard in 1992. The current Euro 6 rules were introduced in 2014 and have been updated with additions since then. The system regulates, among other things, the emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and particles from new cars.