Green agenda: Greek government wants to send millions of cars to landfill

Millions of cars are expected to be scrapped in the coming years due to a central European Union directive to cut emissions due to “climate change”. In Greece already the issue of limiting the ownership and operation of cars that pollute the environment is being considered.

The Mitsotakis government, one of Europe’s leaders on the environmental agenda, plans to soon introduce legislation that will discourage the use of old and polluting cars. There are also plans to lower speed limits in city centers and improve public transport through the introduction of electric and hydrogen cars.

However, there are many problems in Greece, since according to ACEA (Association of European Automobile Manufacturers) until 2021, Greece has the oldest passenger car fleet in the European Union with an average age of 17 years, while the average EU is 12 years, and their renewal costs about 34 billion euros.

This means that the incentives provided when purchasing a new car not enough to convince people to buy a new carbecause the few today can afford to spend 30-100 thousand euros on the purchase of an electric car, since most households in our country have difficulty making ends meet, especially against the backdrop of galloping inflation, due to which half the country’s population already lives at the poverty level.

So, rather than consider introducing more incentives, the government appears to have decided to go the traditional route and introduce disincentive measures that will be fiscal in naturewhile announcing an increase in checks on whether older vehicles comply with emissions standards and undergo technical inspection (MOT).

In particular, the Deputy Minister of Transport Christina Alexopoulou in her speech at the Green Deal Greece conference noted the following:

“As a government, we must first discourage the use of polluting old vehicles by enforcing the law. Frankly, their use is not economically feasible and is only possible because they are not maintained, do not perform their duties and do not meet the necessary safety standards As a state, we must reduce the speed limit in the city to 30 km/h, which will reduce environmental pollution and improve road safety.

Subsequently, vulnerable road users will be given priority over cars. As a state, we must improve public transport: expand the subway, electrify the taxi fleet, modernize the bus fleet with new electric vehicles and invest in clean technologies such as green hydrogen. We look forward with scientific interest to the appearance of the first hydrogen-powered buses in Greece in the next five years. It is important for our country to reduce emissions and become increasingly energy self-sufficient.

As you probably know, there were months this year when the share of renewable energy sources in total consumption was close to 50%. We all understand that generating electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or water does not directly emit pollutants. These primary elements exist in our country, unlike oil and gas, which are imported into both Greece and the European Union.

The higher the production of energy from renewable sources, the lower the emissions of pollutants, and the less dependent we are on energy imports and their implications for government budgets and the balance of trade. Renewable energy gives us the opportunity to wean ourselves off fossil coal.”

PS The government’s idea is clear – to transfer the population to public transport by banning it. And the environmental agenda, together with the ban on the circulation of cash, should put a final end to the so-called. democratic freedoms that Greece once prided itself on.

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