Europe will introduce a new program to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles

It is already being considered by the European Commission and, if approved, will apply to the entire European Union. At the same time, the launch of the so-called strategic dialogue was announced, the purpose of which is to help local automakers overcome the difficulties they encountered on the path to the great energy transition.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that electric mobility is the future, and those who think otherwise want to harm European industry. Apparently, changing the technological structure remains the main goal of the EC, as stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. According to her, the next few years will be critical and Europe has everything it needs to continue the technological race.

They want to solve the problems that the auto industry has already faced on the path to the great energy transition through strategic dialogue. These will be regular meetings with industry representatives, major shareholders and trade unions, at which some decisions will be made and further steps will be determined. It is unclear how effective this format will be. But if nothing is done soon, the slide of individual companies into crisis, for example Volkswagen and Stellantis, threatens serious social and economic upheaval.

Today, the automotive industry generates 7% of the EU’s gross domestic product, so the call by the largest and oldest faction in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party, to revise the EU’s climate strategy in relation to the auto industry is not surprising. MPs are proposing to lift the high-profile ban on the sale of new cars and light commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines, as it deprives consumers of the right to choose, and to pay attention to alternative technologies, from synthetic fuels and hydrogen to hybrids.

In response to this, Olaf Scholz announced a new program to stimulate the purchase of electric vehicles, which will be common to the entire European Union. In Germany, a temporary tax deduction will also be added to it. On the other side of the Atlantic, the new old US President Donald Trump, on the contrary, canceled all government support programs and, in addition, ordered to relax the requirements for carbon dioxide emissions. The White House even withdrew from the Paris climate agreement with the words: “The United States refuses to sabotage its own industry while China pollutes with impunity.”

Trump is actually right here. China has been the largest emitter of CO₂ for many years, and although the United States is in second place, the difference between them is enormous. For example, in 2023, the United States produced 5.96 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent (these are different types of greenhouse gases reduced to a common unit of measurement), while China produced 15.94 billion. India, in third place, added 4.1 billion tons to total emissions, and Russia — 2.67 billion.

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