Our experience

A two-speed Europe in e-mobility

According to the UNFCC, the 2020’s are the critical decade in which to decarbonize road transportation. Failure to do so by 2030 would prevent us from meeting Paris Agreement targets to stave off the worst effects of the climate crisis. Science clearly tells us that there is no choice but to decarbonize our transport as quickly as possible.

The electrific road transport trend is rapidly advancing in Europe. Despite the drop in vehicle sales during the pandemic, electric vehicle (EV) sales are increasing significantly and picking up more of the overall market share. In the private sector, many major OEMs have announced plans to phase out combustion engine vehicles by 2035.

In the public sector, COVID-19 recovery and the EU Green Deal are at the top of the European Union’s agenda and vehicle electrification will play an essential role in that. Large parts of Europe are moving swiftly towards the widespread electrification of road transport – nine EU member states have called for phasing out ICE vehicles. A desire which was voiced even more decisively in the proposal for the EU’s Fit for 55 legislative package. 

Despite these promising actions across the continent, Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries lag behind considerably in the e-mobility trend. Due to lower per capita GDPs, thriving 2nd hand car markets and delayed transport sector reform, the unique characteristics of the region are often overlooked in European-level discussions around net zero transport. Unfortunately, the ambitions for this region are therefore lower, which results in a self-perpetuating cycle of low ambition, low attainment.

How the GTI help

What they do

In response to this reality, the Polish Alternative Fuels Association (PSPA) and the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA), supported by GreenWay launched the CEE Green Transport Initiative in 2020 in order to ascertain that the current two-speed model of developing e-mobility in the EU becomes unified

Working to amplify the crucial needs of the region and supporting stakeholders to reach the legislative stakeholders in the EU, the GTI builds bridges between public and private stakeholders who are aware of e-mobility challenges of the CEE region but have not worked together, thus far. Furthermore, the GTI strives to collect regional data and promote the most important targets and goals for zero emission transport in the CEE region – entailing advocacy, position papers, analyses, reports.

Fit for 55

After its formation, EU legislation work became the priority for the GTI, as the European Commission presented the Fit for 55 legislation package in July 2021. Fit for 55 is the key legislative program of the EU which proposes the phase out of the internal combustion engine (ICE) by 2035 (banning new ICE registration after this point). This plan could help bring overall EU greenhouse gas emissions down by 55% by 2030 (against levels recorded in 1990). The GTI supported the European Council’s proposal to strengthen regulations for the Alternative Fuels' Infrastructure – making alternative fuel targets obligatory across the EU. 

Launching at the New Mobility Congress

To mark their launch, the GTI hosted the New Mobility Conference in June 2021. The event gathered many esteemed stakeholders from the market, with keynote speeches from Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic and former Minister of Climate and Environment Michał Kurtyka.

Stakeholders from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia as well as corporate partners also expressed much interest to support the GTI, including the Hungarian MOL, but above all, PwC. The event featured the opportunity to form working relationships and engage in key talks and discussion panels which helped bring together a total of over 1000 stakeholders of the new mobility environments, including the representation of both the corporate and non-profit sectors of 8 CEE markets.

Impact and potential

The CEE Green Transport Initiative has the potential to fire up cooperation for reporting between countries – both for companies and nonprofits. EU decision-makers can therefore gain access to credible data from these markets, take on a full understanding of the realities of the region and base future e-mobility policies with CEE in mind. Additionally, the e-mobility players of the region will gain a platform for cooperation in bringing the priorities and challenges of their respective market to the discussion level of the EU.

The conclusions, recommendations and positions of the GTI on the key issues of EU and Fit for 55 policy will released in Q4 2021, as will particular positions on AFIR, meetings with key members of cabinet within the European Commission and a comprehensive strategy of cooperation with MEP’s as the Fit for 55 package heads for further proceedings in the European Parliament.  

PwC Central and Eastern Europe is proud to be a partner of the CEE Green Transport Initiative and help drive the e-mobility agenda further in the region.