Illustration photo – The desk of the President of the European Parliament before a session on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, in Strasbourg, eastern France.
Strasbourg – Today, the European Parliament will discuss and should finally approve an ambitious plan to produce passenger cars and vans with zero emissions from 2035. In EU countries, it will be practically impossible to buy a new gasoline or diesel car from 2035.
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The details of the new rules, which will significantly increase the price of any emissions from new cars from the mentioned year, were agreed upon by the EU states and the EP at the end of the Czech presidency. This agreement also includes interim targets, so by 2030 emissions are to be reduced by 55 percent for new cars compared to last year's values. Used cars manufactured before 2035 will not be affected by the requirements.
The MEPs will also vote on another agreement with EU member states from last December. Under the deal, member states applying for additional EU funding through an amended economic recovery plan will be required to include measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify energy supplies in the plan.
According to the EP, the new measures are also intended to support vulnerable households, small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises. Member countries should allocate at least 30 percent of their spending under the REPowerEU program, which aims to reduce the union's dependence on Russian supplies, to projects that address existing barriers to energy transmission, distribution and storage and that increase cross-border flows. New transparency rules regarding the final beneficiaries, who will receive the largest part of the funds, are to be included.
Today MEPs are also to decide on the possibility of remote voting, for example by correspondence, in the elections to the European Parliament. The proposal would simplify the situation for Czech citizens living abroad by providing new variants of remote voting.
The afternoon will be devoted to a debate on the status of women at the plenary session. A draft resolution of the European Parliament calling for the immediate accession of the EU to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is also to be tabled. The Czech Republic has not yet completed the ratification of this Council of Europe convention.
