The FT reports that EU officials see “positive momentum” in talks to avoid a transatlantic trade war and the “priority” is to do a deal on cars (Report, February 21).
One thing that must not be on the table in these negotiations is a capitulation by the EU on vehicle safety standards.
Trade negotiators may push for “equivalence” or mutual recognition
of vehicles, which would allow US-market vehicles to be sold in the EU, and vice versa.
This would be a catastrophic mistake, and the consequences would be measured in the deaths of men, women and children on EU roads.
EU and US standards are not equivalent. During negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal a decade ago, a study commissioned by the car industry found that EU models were, on average, 33 per cent safer in terms of risk of a serious injury in common front-side crashes. Since last year, all vehicles sold on the EU market have had to meet a newer and significantly safer standard, including mandatory fitting of technologies such as automated emergency braking and emergency lane-keeping systems. These new standards are predicted to prevent thousands of deaths over the coming years. None of them are currently mandatory in the US.
Thousands of American-market pick-up trucks, such as the RAM and Ford F-150 are already being sold in Europe through a loophole known as “individual vehicle approval”. For a pedestrian or cyclist hit by a pick-up, the risk of serious injury increases by 90 per cent and the risk of fatal injury by almost 200 per cent. It is essential that we close this loophole, not open the floodgates to an invasion of thousands more of these vehicles, as well as large, heavy and tall US SUVs built on truck platforms.
Since 2013, road deaths in the EU have decreased by 16 per cent. In the US they have increased by 25 per cent.
Negotiations to avoid tariffs may be part of the new political reality. But the protection of European citizens from death or serious injury on the road must be non-negotiable.
Antonio Avenoso
Executive Director, European Transport Safety Council
Laurianne Krid
Director-General, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Region I
Michiel van Ratingen
Secretary-General, Euro NCAP — The European New Car Assessment Programme
William Todts
Executive Director, Transport & Environment
