The FIA has welcomed the European Parliament’s new ‘CARS 21’ report on the European automotive sector as an important policy blueprint for the industry’s future. The report also recognises the leading role played by the FIA in encouraging the development and use of new environmental technologies.
The report, by the EU’s automotive policy advisors, calls upon the FIA to continue its work to promote road relevant research in motor sport and recognises the potential role of Formula One in changing attitudes and customer behaviour in bringing green technologies to market more quickly.
The European Parliament’s report praises the FIA’s environmental initiatives. According to the report, the FIA is “at the forefront of innovative environmental technology changes that offer potential CO2 reduction and efficiency saving spin-offs for all new cars”.
The Parliament urges the FIA to “further intensify its efforts to promote innovative road relevant research designed, inter alia, to improve the energy efficiency of cars.”
It also acknowledges that motor sport can play a key role in “changing attitudes and customer behaviour towards environmentally friendly technology”, and asks the FIA and Formula One to “change their rules accordingly, so that environmentally friendly technologies like bio-fuels, four-cylinder engines or hybrid can be more easily applied.”
FIA President Max Mosley said:
“It is immensely satisfying that the European Parliament recognises motor sport’s role in developing environmentally-friendly technologies and supports the work undertaken by the FIA in its campaign to make motoring more sustainable in the future.”
“With the support of the motor manufacturers competing in Formula One and with the engineering expertise unique to the sport, the new technical regulations will accelerate the introduction of energy-efficient technologies into the domestic car market.”
To further its environmental objectives the FIA will work with its international membership of automotive clubs and with stakeholders in world motor sport to take forward recommendations from its Make Cars Green Declaration at campaign events throughout 2008.
These recommendations include calls for governments to introduce fiscal incentives for both motor manufacturers and consumers to introduce modern, fuel-efficient technologies and for the first worldwide target on CO2 emissions as part of an international framework for greener motoring.
The ‘CARS 21’ Report is available for download from the European Parliament web site:
please click here
