Transport Brief - Threat of higher fuel prices resurrects Yellow Vest fears

Threat of higher fuel prices resurrects Yellow Vest fears

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A recent analysis suggests that the EU’s carbon market for road transport and buildings (known as ETS 2) may see prices rise far above the €45 promised by the European Commission, provoking fears that protests against fuel price hikes will follow.

As Halloween approaches, a spectre has returned to haunt EU politics, which strikes terror into the hearts of transport policymakers in particular.

It is currently dormant, but its slumber may soon be disturbed, awakening its bloodlust for green legislation.

I’m talking, of course, of the Gilet Jaunes (the Yellow Vests).

To briefly recap, the Gilet Jaunes was a movement in France formed in late 2018 in opposition to environmental taxes on petrol and diesel. Protestors donned high-vis jackets, which became their sartorial calling card.

The movement embraced the idea that wealthy political elites were piling ever-increasing taxes onto the common people in the name of the climate.

These green taxes on fuels meant that the ordinary person had to pay more to drive, impeding their ability to work and complete basic errands. The protestors took to the streets to demonstrate to the Élysée that it had gone too far.

The protests turned violent, with cars burned, windows smashed, and buildings vandalised (famously, the Arc de Triomphe was graffitied).

The movement spread across Europe, with fed-up citizens in other countries donning yellow vests and taking to the streets, though their protests didn’t quite have the same vitalité as their Gallic cousins (the continent’s foremost protesting experts).
Although relatively short-lived, the Gilets Jaunes’s effect on public consciousness was immense. The offending fuel tax was rolled back, embarrassing President Emmanuel Macron.

The entire chapter was seen as a lesson in the perils of green taxes, particularly green transport taxes.

This must have been at the forefront of many politicians’ minds when reading the recent German think-tank Agora Energiewende analysis on the EU’s newly established carbon market for road transport and buildings.

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Hyperloop stroked from Commission work plan

As Europe‘s transport sector is far off its climate targets, some believe it will require nothing short of a miracle for the EU to reach its goals.

Supporters of hyperloop, a tube with low air pressure through which capsules can be moved via magnets, believe their technology can precisely be the miracle in question.

Others, however, see it as mere fantasy, which, at worst, could distract policy-makers from serious decarbonisation efforts, such as promoting high-speed rail.

The European Commission, for a long time, seemed to be in the first camp. In 2022, it announced it would present the first hyperloop regulation this year before any large hyperloop route has materialised.

“Safety, interoperability, and efficiency are key enablers of our vision to realise a European hyperloop network,” Mars Geuze, co-founder of Hardt Hyperloop, a Dutch Start-up working on hyperloop development, told Euractiv.

“The start of an EU-wide regulatory framework will allow hyperloop developers and the industry to develop the technology in line with safety and interoperability regulations,” he added.

However, the European Commission will not present the hyperloop regulation this year, nor is it included in next year’s work plan published last week.

The Commission did not want to comment on why the regulation was postponed — or whether it lost hope that the hyperloop would form part of its decarbonisation efforts.

However, Euractiv understands that an impact analysis is ongoing, and the hyperloop regulation could be taken up by the next Commission.

– Jonathan Packroff

Berlin warned of €200 EU carbon price shock on fuel, heating bills

A lack of climate action will see the EU’s future 2027 carbon price on fuel for cars and homes soar to above €200 per tonne, German researchers warn, suggesting ramping up domestic carbon prices now to avoid a price shock.

Global companies push EU Parliament to favour zero-emission trucks

Four major companies have called on EU lawmakers to adopt ambitious CO2 standards to boost the production of zero tailpipe emission trucks, urging them to reject renewable fuels to decarbonise heavy-duty vehicles.

To tackle biofuel fraud, Ireland takes matters into its own hands

The Irish government has confirmed it will set up a working group to ensure the sustainability of biofuels used in the country as concerns grow that tainted fuels are entering the EU market.

Green investors warn EU against rollback of climate policies

Despite the transition to climate neutrality creating frictions in the short-term, politicians should not change course, investors in green technologies said, asking for clear signals that the transition will be followed through.

China to curb exports of graphite, a key battery material

China, the world’s top graphite producer, announced new curbs on exports of certain types of graphite, key to making batteries for electric vehicles, in its latest move to control supplies of critical minerals in response to challenges over its manufacturing dominance.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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