Brussels wants to slash the allowed levels of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, proposing strong 2020 targets. Such measures could be reflected in the price of new cars, which could rise by more than €1,500 each. Representatives of the Slovak automotive industry were in Brussels to draw attention to how much such a measure will cost, although they have not rejected the idea.
“Of course one wants to achieve such a goal, the question is at what price? The question is if the client is willing and able to pay this price which we would be offering. And based on this, we would set up the production of the cars,” Says the President of the Association of the Slovak Automotive Industry, Jaroslav Holeček. Today's cars discharge approximately 135 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per kilometre. The European Commission's proposal however is to reduce this amount to 95 grams per kilometre by 2020. Fears have been raised that such measures raise the risk of losing one of the automakers from Slovakia, damaging the economy, with car production making up more than 40% of Slovakia’s manufacturing. The European Commission however acknowledges that the new emission standards are indeed strict, and these proposals should be discussed within the Member States. Emission levels for cars in the European Union are expected to be made even tighter after 2020, but what’s not yet certain is if such laws will be able to find enough political will to make them happen.
