European Tire & Rubber Manufacturers Plan to Put More Vehicles on the Roads in Response to Covid-19

06/May/2020

Sydney Jones

Press Secretary

[email protected]

Carole Mitchell

Global Communications Director

[email protected]

On May 5, 2020, the European Tire and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) published an Action Plan for the EU to kick-start the automotive sector following the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, Mighty Earth Senior Campaign Director Julian Oram released the following statement:

“While we welcome the industry’s stated commitment to the European Green Deal, we believe that one of the key demands of the ETRMA‘s Action Plan could be at odds with such a pledge.

“ETRMA’s proposal for an EU-funded vehicle renewal scheme would likely increase car ownership and could pose serious public health risks. Even if coupled with incentives for private owners to trade in older vehicles for newer ones, the overall impact of the program is likely to be more cars on Europe’s roads, exacerbating congestion and increasing pollution and emissions. Europe needs to be moving in precisely the opposite direction: looking to reduce private car ownership, boost spending on clean, green forms of public mobility, and cut particulate emissions that could exacerbate respiratory problems for people infected with Covid-19.

“The ERTMA’s demand to ‘postpone all non-essential public consultations‘ – combined with a call to accelerate the EU’s vehicle type approval process ‘as quickly as possible‘ – could also set a worrying precedent of bypassing important democratic checks and balances in regulatory oversight and should be strongly resisted by the European Commission.

“EU bailout packages should be strictly conditional on building a new, low–carbon economy. Any policy incentives or financial assistance directed towards auto, tire, and rubber companies cannot simply seek to resuscitate the industry as it was, but must instead help stimulate a green transformation. In the wake of the current crisis, such a transition is more urgent than ever. Mighty Earth will therefore endeavor to work with both policymakers and members of the ERTMA to ensure that short-term measures to support the sector are fully aligned with the longer-term vision of a new Green Deal for Europe.”