France will only encourage the purchase of cars made in Europe to stop the entry of Chinese electric cars

The French executive has long sought to implement covert protectionist measures in the style of the US Inflation Reduction Act (or IRA) — a package of public subsidies that the Biden administration intends to use to boost domestic consumption. Now France has decided to take a firm step and from 2024, the allocation of support for the purchase of an electric car will take into account the carbon footprint of the production of the vehicle and its battery. In other words, excludes electric cars made in China and all those not made in Europe.

The French government has proposed changing the rules for the premiums it has granted so far for the purchase of electric vehicles. To do this, they will condition them on the ecological balance of the car, which includes the entire life cycle, from construction to recycling, which will in practice limit subsidies to models produced in Europe.

local production

“The entire premium will be reserved for vehicles manufactured in Europe,” the Minister of Economy and Finance pointed out yesterday. Bruno Le Mairewhen he explained the content of the bill called Industria Verde at the press conference.

The buyer of a new electric vehicle in FrElderly people can now receive assistance of 5,000 to 7,000 euroswhich is awarded taking care only that it does not emit greenhouse gases during use.

But according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Chinese vehicles, which are making their way into the French market and also into Spain, have a carbon footprint of around 45% higher than those produced in Europe with the same characteristics.

That’s why the new scale, which should enter into force by the end of this year, plans to take into account emissions generated during production and use, including, for example, the use of recycled materials to reduce environmental impact.

According to Macron’s executive, the measure is estimated to reduce France’s carbon footprint by around 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually on average between 2024 and 2027.

In addition to purely environmental objectives, the green industry bill aims to contribute to reversing the trend whereby the industrial sector has halved its weight in France’s gross domestic product (GDP) in thirty years (from 20 to 10%).