On July 2021, the EU Commission adopted a series of legislative proposals to set the path to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. In addition, the intermediate target of 55% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 was set. We are currently looking into expanding our Clean Vehicles Wizard into other countries within Europe due to this EU legislation affecting all countries, not only Finland and Germany.
As a first step of our research, we have been looking into France, Belgium and Spain. Not surprisingly, all of these countries have relatively different characteristics:
One of the most interesting findings was that there is a large number of smaller municipalities located in the heart of France in what we would like to call the “Green Belt” (a cluster of low emissions zones scattered throughout the middle of France). In all countries, acquiring precise vehicle data is a major factor. France has abundant resources in terms of vehicle data and license plate API databases, making our entry more advantageous.
Based on our research, municipalities do not necessarily have the right tools to be able to manage their fleets to the extent of the new EU legislations regarding aggregate fleet emissions.
Belgium however, seems to have advanced as local government entities are pushing municipalities to look into local fleet management companies through their ”Mobility and Fleet facilitator Program”. Also, it seems that local government entities work closely with local fleet providers and with limited transportation distances, a lot of trust is laid on full electric vehicles.
Spain is another interesting country that we have looked into. Spain possesses multiple cities/municipalities that have not yet acted upon the new EU Clean Vehicles Directive legislation. These municipalities are forward thinking with regard to the environment and sustainability, amassing sustainability rewards not only from the Spanish government, but also have received recognition from the UN with Global Green City awards and European green capital awards. Spain is home to a diverse culture, and there is certainly no one-size-fits-all approach to doing business in different regions of the country.
Overall our findings have suggested that the business environment and green issues awareness within Europe differs greatly. The time will tell, which will be the next country for CVW expansion.
