Georgia Maloney’s nationalist government, after unsuccessfully fighting to end sales of new vehicles equipped with thermal engines in new cars from 2035, is now leading a rebellion in Europe against tougher standards proposed by Brussels.

“Italy shows the way, our positions are increasingly divided”Business Minister Adolfo Urso, an ardent defender of the national industry, said on Monday “ideological vision” climate change.

By this, he was referring to a coalition of eight European countries, including Italy and France, which oppose the upcoming Euro 7 standard, which aims to strengthen vehicle emissions testing and is due to come into force from 2025.

Did he slingshot to save his industry?

The EU proposal was described by the Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini as follows “Obviously wrong and even useless from an environmental point of view”. He calls for a “blocking majority” to slow down this project, which the auto industry considers too expensive.

As head of the League, Matteo Salvini had already opposed the ban on heat engines in 2035, calling the measure “madness” WHO “will destroy thousands of jobs in Italy” in favor of China, ahead in the field of electric vehicles.

After Germany threatened to block the measure at the last minute, Brussels paved the way for synthetic fuel, which Berlin claimed in Marchbut refused Rome’s request to allow the use of biofuels to extend the life of heat engines.

According to experts, synthetic fuel technology, controversial and still under development, does not apply than a minority of luxury carsfor example at Ferrari, which welcomed the concession made by Brussels.

Italy lags far behind on several levels

In Italy, “The problems of ecology and climate are always pushed to the background” under pressure a “powerful industrial lobby” in the automotive and energy sectors, laments Federico Spadini, head of Greenpeace Italy.

“None of the governments in recent years has been able to cope with environmental challenges. Unfortunately, Italy has not declared itself in Europe as a climate champion.”, he comments to AFP. According to him, “There is no doubt that the situation has worsened with the Maloney government”.

Italy is in last place in Europe, with 26.9% decline in EV sales in 2022, with market share reaching only 3.7%compared to the EU average of 12.1%.

“There is no enthusiasm for electric cars in Italy. The offer is limited, only one model of the national manufacturer Fiat., says Felipe Muñoz, an analyst at Jato Dynamics. In addition, “Purchasing power is not very high, people cannot afford expensive electric cars. Therefore, the demand is low, in contrast to the Scandinavian countries”he told AFP.

This opinion is shared by the CEO of the Italian truck manufacturer Iveco Gerrit Marks. “We risk becoming a big Cuba with very old cars that will be used for many years because part of the population will not be able to afford an electric model”he is afraid

In 2022, Italy employed almost 270,000 direct or indirect workers in the automotive sector, accounting for 5.2% of GDP. The transition to all electricity can lead to the loss of more than 60,000 jobs in Italy by 2035 for automotive suppliers aloneaccording to their European association (Clepa).

“We have a significant delay, there are barely 36,000 electric charging stations in Italy, compared to 90,000 in little Holland”also recognized by Minister Adolfo Urso.