our correspondent in Brussels
The green light from the European Parliament follows the agreement reached in the Council by state ministers on climate legislation. Therefore, the intermediate target of a 90% reduction in emissions by 2040 can be achieved, but with a flexibility margin of 5% (thus with an actual emissions reduction of 85%) by purchasing high-quality carbon credits from 2036. “Further exacerbating an already compromised situation, introducing an intermediate target before 2050 would only burden the manufacturing sector”, commented Isabella Tovaglieri, Member of the European Parliament from the League and shadow rapporteur for climate law at the Industrial Commission. Among today’s news, there is the birth of an axis between the EPP (the first majority party to support the Von der Leyen Commission and of which Forza Italia is part) and the right-wing groups Patrioti (Lega) and Ecr (Brothers of Italy). An agreement that leads to the simplification of reporting directions for environmental, social and governance sustainability for companies. An aspect that many entrepreneurs criticize. Parliament’s decision was to change the scope of application of the law, lightening the burden and applying the strictest standards only to the largest companies with 5,000 employees and a turnover of at least 1.5 billion euros.
Meanwhile, we are waiting for the revised emissions regulations which will be submitted to the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen on 10 December. In this case, Italy hopes to obtain approval for its biofuel request. “Until I see the word biofuel in black and white, I will not believe in the openness of this Commission,” he told Giornale Tovaglieri. The Italian government’s position is to achieve technological neutrality that extends beyond electric cars as a means of achieving Green Deal targets. “The Commission has so far complied with Germany’s requests regarding e-fuels, but on the issue of biofuels, they are not listening”, but to “save the automotive sector in Italy and the European Union, biofuels are necessary”.
On the day of the Climate law vote, a roundtable was held on phasing out internal combustion engines in cars by 2035 promoted by the Patrioti group and moderated by journalist Pierluigi Bonora. In addition to MEP Tovaglieri, Economic Development council member Guido Guidesi, president of the European automotive regional alliance, also participated: “Companies in the automotive and components sector are now closing every week, and this is the result of wrong choices trying to influence the market in a negative way for the industry”. The request of the European automotive region, which was excluded from the first stage of discussions by von der Leyen, should be listened to and open to the use of biofuels: “These weeks are a decisive moment to save the automotive industry, if there is no regulatory revision it will be the biggest industrial suicide ever.” Its philosophy is “to present industrial and scientific proposals so that environmental goals can be achieved without sacrificing 13 million jobs”. Other guests at the table also agreed on the topic: Roberto Parodi, a writer and journalist who does not rule out running for mayor of Milan, lawyer and industry expert Gilberto Celletti, YouTubers Federico Lamperti and Enrico Di Mauro as well as the promoter of the classic car eventQuelli in Piazza Affari, Carlo Vulnera.
Present in the audience was the League’s deputy secretary and MEP Roberto Vannacci who on the sidelines defined the Green Deal as “a scam without any benefits that makes us spend more money without any benefits on climate-changing gas emissions”.
