Euro 7 and why it matters to you

Euro 7, now there’s a jolly little phrase, or is it? At least 12 months late, and positing a time-compressed, uncertain, expensive and slightly scary future, the European Commission published its proposals for the latest round of vehicle emissions requirements last week. The motor industry wasn’t impressed; slack jawed might be a better description.

Even the official language was barely suppressed.

‘The auto industry takes its role to reduce both CO2 and pollutant emissions very seriously,’ said Oliver Zipse, ACEA president and BMW chief executive. ‘Unfortunately, the environmental benefit of the Commission’s proposal is very limited, whereas it heavily increases the cost of vehicles [and] it focuses on extreme driving conditions that have hardly any real-life relevance.’

European car making giant Stellantis pointed out that ‘in the context of a quick and compelled move towards electrification, Euro 7 is a diversion of key resources from that transition… [and puts] at risk affordable mobility.’