Cyprus is having a hard time meeting its EU 2020 environmental targets, which include the reduction of CO2 emissions, with one of the sticking points being the import of petrol-thirsty cars from countries clamping down on ‘dirty vehicles’.
Meanwhile, a bill prepared by the government to tackle the issue has been met with criticism from MPs who have sent the bill back to the cabinet, claiming that it does not address the problem of pollutant emissions from mainly old cars.
While Ministry of Agriculture officials say that “failure to comply with the EU directives will result in penalties which will be passed on to the public through taxes”, the main problems affecting Cyprus is the import of problematic second-hand vehicles, especially those with diesel engines, which are imposing further obstacles to the country’s efforts to meet its 2020 targets.
“Countries like Germany and Britain are applying or discussing restrictions on the use of diesel-powered cars, but they are selling their old vehicles to countries (like Cyprus) whose citizens have a lower income than their own,” the source said.
He said that the problem is expected to worsen with a ban on the movement of such vehicles in Europe's cities and towns, whereby used diesel vehicles will be withdrawn and exported to other EU countries even more cheaply.
The Anastasiades administration has tried to tackle the issue in a last-ditch attempt to help Cyprus meet its EU 2020 targets regarding the reduction of pollutants emitted by cars on the country’s roads.
Green MP Charalambos Theopemptou is critical of the government’s efforts at such a late stage.
“It has not taken timely measures to counter the environmental issues and to meet the country’s EU targets, leaving everything to the last minute,” Theopemptou told the Financial Mirror.
“While the government tried to tackle the issue with the introduction of a scaled registration fee and road tax scheme which would, in theory, see car owners pay according to the amount of pollutants emitted by their vehicles, they failed because of the car’s age factor,” said the MP.
He said if the bill had passed, Cypriots would have been forced to pay in some cases €2-3,000 upon the car’s registration and a few hundred euros annually for the road tax as the older the car, the higher the cost.
“What needs to be done is to draw up a bill which will penalise the actual pollution caused by the car. We do not have a problem with owners of cars with high emissions paying a hefty registration fee or road tax, but even this should be introduced gradually, giving incentives to people to change their cars,” argued Theopemptou.
He explained that someone can import a lightly used secondhand car which may emit fewer pollutants than many newer cars, pointing out that there is no nearly-new car market in Cyprus.
He added that the incentive scheme included in the government’s proposed legislation to encourage drivers to exchange their old banger and replace it with a newer one is less than adequate.
The package for reducing transport pollutants brought before the House by the Cabinet also includes an incentive to withdraw vehicles from the road aged over 15.
There is a zero-registration fee and a zero road tax fee for the first five years for a new car with anti-pollutant technology if the buyer withdraws from circulation a saloon or light commercial vehicle which is 15 years or older.
“This cannot be considered as a true incentive as a car which emits 105 gr of pollutants has close to zero registration fees and very low road tax. The government should be looking for ways to give incentives to people to buy hybrid or electric cars instead of just newer cars,” said Theopemptou.
Meanwhile, new car dealers have also expressed concerns over imports of used cars with high CO2 emissions from other EU countries and believe Cyprus is rightly looking for ways to clamp down on the import of older cars but needs to also give incentives to people to buy hybrid and electric cars.
Used cars are 70% of total sales
Treasurer of the Motor Vehicles Importers Association, Dickran Ouzounian told the Financial Mirror, there is a huge increase in the number of used cars with high emissions exported from Britain to Cyprus, especially diesel-powered cars.
“In Cyprus, we have witnessed imported secondhand cars increase rapidly over the last few years. Used cars now amount to 70% of all car sales, with half of them coming from Japan and the other half from the United Kingdom,” said Ouzounian.
He said that cars imported from the UK are usually luxury cars which are over 5 years old and run on Diesel. “The UK is working on phasing out the use of diesel cars and it is expected that soon diesel engine cars will not be allowed in major cities such as London,” said Ouzounian.
“With UK citizens looking to get rid of their diesel cars, Cyprus is the perfect market,” he said.
He argues that these cars are not only problematic because they have significant mileage on them, but they also pose a risk for the environment and public health.
“Diesel cars have what is called a Diesel Particular Filter which filters emissions from these engines. In most cars imported, this filter has been worn down and needs to be replaced. This means that a diesel car working without a proper filter in place emits dangerous pollutants 80 to 100 times more.”
Changing the filter is a consumer obligation, with many opting to run their cars without the filter, due to the high cost. Ouzounian stressed that the state should take on the responsibility to check these cars, both when they are imported and during the biannual MOT evaluation.
“As an association, we are working closely with the government to introduce new measures which will reduce the country’s emissions in transport. However, you cannot achieve this with a restriction on free trade. We need to find ways to get consumers to consider the effect their car will have on the environment and public health before purchasing,” said Ouzounian.
A combination of increased fees for polluting vehicles, along with significant incentives to purchase cars which are friendlier to the environment, such as Hybrid and electric cars are the way forward.
Another new car importer was critical of the state.
“It has been pushing Cypriots to buy older used cars with incentives such a scaled consumer tax that favoured older cars, which is hard to break. As a result, people were able to buy luxury cars of a significant age at a low cost, which due to the crisis as well, they are now not able to maintain. That is the main reason why we have 16,000 cars in circulation which have not passed their MOTs”.
He argued that the government needs to take immediate action by introducing a law which will penalize polluters.
However, this on its own will not go far in reversing the situation as by the time the law is adopted there will be a huge stock of such cars imported and ready to enter the market.
“Even incentives for people to buy new cars is not enough. We need to see incentives for people to turn to buy cleaner cars such as hybrid and electric cars with the latest anti-pollutant technologies,” said the car dealer.
