Wednesday, 30 March 2016 - 09:08
MPs want only zero emissions cars sold on Dutch market by 2025
The lower house of Dutch parliament wants only sustainable, zero-emission cars to be sold on the Dutch market from 2025. If the parliamentarians have their way, no new diesel or petrol cars will enter the Dutch market from then.
A majority of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, voted for this motion brought by the PvdA. The motion was supported by the D66, GroenLinks, ChristenUnie, PvdD, SP, Kuzu/Ozturk and one-man factions Klein and Houwers, NOS reports.
Coalition partner VVD finds the motion overambitious and unrealistic. VVD Minister Henk Kamp of Economic Affairs thinks that at most 15 percent of all sold cars can be completely electric in 2025. Party leader Halbe Zijlstra thinks the plan contradicts the Energy Agreement. "It seems crazy to get this plan to work. I think we'll have to withdraw from the Energy Agreement", he said.
PvdA leader Diederik Samsom disagrees. He thinks the plan is completely feasible - technology in this area is advancing at a rapid pace and other countries are already ahead of the Netherlands. The plan also has nothing to do with the energy agreement, according to him. "That agreement runs until 2023, we are free in what we do after that. We are ambitious, perhaps other parties are less so", he said, according to the broadcaster.