Minister Kupka held talks with EU transport ministers on EURO 713/3/2023|Press releasesThe Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Portugal have reservations on the current proposal of the new EURO 7 emissions standard and will demand a postponement of its legal force and some countries will also request a relaxation of its parameters. This is the main conclusion of today's meeting of transport ministers in Strasbourg, convened by Czech transport minister Martin Kupka. "Since the introduction of the EURO 7 draft emission standard, we have been in intensive negotiations with other countries and it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a strong coalition of like-minded countries that have a problem with the current wording of the EURO 7 proposal. Today's meeting is important for further coordination of our joint efforts," said transport minister Martin Kupka, adding: “We have agreed on some basic requirements on how we want to amend the draft standard. In the coming days we will prepare a joint document with our main comments that we will then share with the European Commission and other member states. Our common goal is to redesign EURO 7 in a way that is feasible for the European car market. We do not wish to disadvantage the car market against other global competitors either. And we do not want to cause more harm that good despite our best environmental intention to reduce transport emissions." The countries holding talks today have reservations in particular about the proposed effect dates which, especially for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, do not allow sufficient time for development and production adaptation. The proposed two years for the implementation of the standard also do not take into account the fact that the legal framework will only be complete once the relevant implementing legislation has been adopted. "The Czech Republic proposes a time limit of four years between the adoption of the last implementing document and the date when the standard will enter into force. The automotive industry must simply have time to prepare," said minister Kupka. The ministers further agreed that the postponement of the effect date alone does not solve some of the problematic technical aspects of this standard. Some of the proposed measurement methods are unknown and they also hit the limits of the technological capabilities of today's cars. "There is no reliable and available technology now to measure for example brake emissions. There is no on-board monitoring system, the so-called On-Board-Monitoring app which would measure vehicle emissions in real time," added minister Kupka. The need to adopt these measures could lead to a major reduction in the production of new vehicle models, their price hike and thus to further obsolescence of the vehicle fleet in Europe, with all the negative impacts on the environment and road safety. The Czech Republic has long been communicating its objections on the draft EURO 7 standard. Even before its release, Czech transport minister Martin Kupka presented to the Internal Market Commissioner Breton the Czech negative position on this. He then again discussed the specific reservations with him in Brussels on 10 February. The Czech government was one of the first to adopt the national position on EURO 7, back in December last year. Transport minister Kupka also held a series of bilateral talks during the joint meeting of European transport ministers in Stockholm at the end of February. Negotiations at the level of Brussels ambassadors are also under way. The representatives of the countries today agreed on a coordinated approach to the preparation of a joint document summarising the main demands of the countries on the European Commission to amend the EURO 7 standard. It should be ready in a few days and will then be shared with the European Commission and other member states.