The European Commission's work program for 2023 anticipates an initiative to green corporate fleets.
Carriers must be able to choose from the options available in a free market. The European Commission's Greening Corporate Fleets initiative should encourage, not force, carriers to purchase zero-emission vehicles. The European Commission's work program for 2023 anticipates an initiative to green corporate fleets. IRU (International Road Transport Union) cautiously welcomes this new initiative, which could provide a non-binding framework for Member States to encourage private operators to adopt clean technologies.
“Small and medium-sized businesses operate on thin margins. They are responsible for their profitability and fully bear all financial losses. The EU cannot tell them how to invest and dictate their market choices. The European Commission's work on corporate fleet greening would really benefit the industry and the EU's wider decarbonisation goals, if the result were a recommendation for Member States to use positive government incentives to boost adoption of encouraging vehicles based on carbon neutral technologies”.
However, the initiative could lead to the opposite, forcing private operators to buy zero-emission vehicles, which is completely against the principles of a market economy. IRU and Taxis 4 Smart Mobility have called on Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean to encourage carriers to purchase zero-emission vehicles without infringing on property rights and the freedom to invest private capital.
