EURO 7 emission standard will be significantly more acceptable, agreement on final version confirms18/12/2023|Press releasesThe proposal for the new EURO 7 emission standard will ultimately be significantly more acceptable and realistic than originally proposed. This is confirmed by the final compromise agreement reached on 18 December 2023 between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. During more than a year of negotiations, the Czech Republic managed to defend all its key demands. The exhaust emission limits for cars and vans will remain at the current EURO 6 standard, including the testing conditions for passenger vehicles. Furthermore, the deadlines for the entry into force of the new rules have been postponed and the vehicle emissions monitoring system has also undergone major changes. "This is a great success what the Czech Republic has done in the European Union. It is the result of intensive cooperation with like-minded countries, the work of people at the Czech Ministry of Transport and the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic in Brussels. We have succeeded in making very significant changes to important EU legislation. We have joined forces with European industry and consumer representatives and have managed to negotiate a text of the standard that will not pose a risk to the competitiveness of the European automotive industry and will not allow any deterioration in access to passenger cars for the European public. A great deal of work is also behind Alexandr Vondra during the negotiations in the European Parliament," says Transport Minister Martin Kupka, who led our negotiations on the change to the standard. In particular, the following changes have been introduced in the final version of the standard: The exhaust emission limits for cars will remain at the level of the EURO 6 emission standard that is already in force today, including testing limits. The deadlines for the standard to take effect have been postponed, as the Czech Republic has always proposed. Now the deadline for entry into force is 30 months from the entry into force of the Regulation for new M1 and N1 vehicle types and 42 months for all registrations. For categories M2, M3, N2, N3 and O3, O4, the time limit is 48 months from the entry into force of the Regulation for new types and 60 months for all registrations. This period will allow carmakers to prepare for the new requirements. The requirements for the operation of the On-Board Monitoring (OBM) system have been significantly modified. The use of the OBM has been modified, so that the safety of traffic is not compromised. This proposal has been better linked to the current proposal for a regulation on CO2 limits for heavy goods vehicles. The regulation also introduces new measurements of emissions from brakes and tyres that affect human health, which will have a positive impact on the quality of the environment. "The final version of the Regulation maintains the key priorities of the Common Position adopted by member states this autumn. The Czech Republic and a group of like-minded countries succeeded in pushing through the maximum number of demands for amending the legislation, which were also reflected in the negotiations with the European Parliament. The last open point in the final negotiations was the targets for batteries," comments Lucie Šestáková, Czech Ambassador to the Committee of Permanent Representatives Coreper I. Since the first publication of the draft of the new emission standard, the Czech government has fought for its relaxation. Under the leadership of minister Kupka, a coalition of countries that are close in their opinions was formed. The professional support of the Automotive Industry Association also played an important role. "Although EURO 7 will still bring a number of new rules and requirements to the automotive industry, the fact is that today's EURO 7 is more moderate and technically realistic, so the work that led to the compromise presented should be appreciated. I therefore greatly appreciate the commitment of the representatives of the Czech state, led by minister Kupka, and the work of the main rapporteur, MEP Vondra, who played a key role in the negotiations to make the EURO 7 standard as rational as possible," says Zdeněk Petzl, Executive Director of the Association of the Automotive Industry. The complex negotiations in the European Parliament, led by Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra as rapporteur, also ended in success. "The aim of the negotiation was to ensure the affordability of new smaller cars with internal combustion engines for domestic customers, while allowing the automotive industry to prepare for the expected general transformation of the sector. The result corresponds to this," Vondra said after the final form of the agreement was adopted.