The European Commission’s Automotive Package, which has extended the production of combustion engines, and encourages the use of green steel, has been met with contrasting comments from Germany’s mills and carmakers.
Steel federation WV Stahl welcomes the Commission’s proposals to create incentives that provide a lead market for “Steel Made in the EU”. The federation highlights the specific proposal to revise CO₂ emission standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. “For the first time, low-emission steel produced exclusively in the EU will be counted towards achieving the limits for corporate fleets,” WV Sthal writes.
Contrasting that, the carmakers appreciate neither the one nor the other, and particularly dismiss Brussels’ new requirements regarding green steel and renewable fuels.
An adjustment of steel sourcing is tied to conditions that the automotive industry cannot influence, Kallanish reads in a statement by carmakers’ federation VDA. “Whether sufficient quantities of green steel produced in the EU will be available at competitive prices in 2035 is beyond the automotive industry’s control,” VDA argues.
It also finds the ideas behind the Corporate Fleets Initiative and its allocation to the various member states are “completely unrealistic”. VDA concedes there is an urgent need for action regarding heavy commercial vehicles and their associated fleet-wide CO₂ regulations. But it notes the obvious areas for action are, again, outside the reach of carmakers. These include, in particular, the expansion of the charging and H2 refuelling infrastructure, VDA notes.
The package as it stands is the “antithesis of planning certainty”, VDA writes. “We will be penalised if others fail to do their homework or if expectations are not met.”
