Statements by Commissioner Breton on the sale of vehicles with combustion engines

11.1.2023

Priority question for written answer  P-000091/2023/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 138
Jorge Buxadé Villalba (ECR)

On 10 January 2022, during his visit to Spain, Commissioner Breton stated at a public event that European companies should continue to make combustion cars in order to sell them on other continents, but that sales of these cars should be banned in Europe. Given that these statements by the Commissioner are reminiscent of colonialist, I ask the Commission:

• 1.Does it feel that Commissioner Breton should be condemned for his hypocritical statements, in which he advocates a ban on the sale of combustion cars in Europe because they are harmful to health, but has no problem urging European companies to sell their ‘polluting’ combustion engines on other continents?
• 2.Based on his statements, does the Commission believe that ‘polluting’ combustion engines do not affect the health of Europeans in the same way as they affect the health of people living in other continents, such as Africa?
• 3.Why does the Commission not plan to suspend any legislation that seeks to impose bans that reflect a fanatical view of the environment and that undermine Europe’s middle and working classes?

Submitted: 11.1.2023