Starting from government institutions and public transport, European Union takes measures in response to the “green living” trend. European Parliament passed a bill demanding government institutions and public transport to take not only prices but also energy saving into consideration and make emission reduction the top priority when purchasing new vehicles.
By asking government institutions to set a good example, European Union aims to raise environmental awareness in industries, and to eventually establish eco-friendly values among the general public.
In as early as 1999, French government began to pay attention to the development of electric cars. Starting from January 1st, 2008, new CO2 emission standards for new vehicles went into effect. Cars emitting low carbon are to be rewarded with a price and those emitting high carbon are to bear extra tax burden. According to the legislation, cars emitting carbon between 110g~130g are rewarded with 200 to 1000 EURO while cars emitting carbon less than 60g are rewarded with a maximum of 5000 EURO. However, if the emission surpasses a certain amount, a tax penalty of 200 to 2600 ERUO will be applied.
In addition, the French government invested 400 million EURO in automobile R&D starting in 2008. Not only did such policy help develop the French automobile industry but also helped save the planet.
French automakers continued to introduce new models; Renault introduced a new EV in 2010 which will be mass produced in 2012 and Peugeot cooperated with Mitsubishi to launch new EV in 2011.
As for renewable energy, the French government provided as much as 40% tax reduction in hopes of achieving 10% of total national consumption by 2010.