Czechs seek partners to challenge EU's CO2 goals for car sector

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic will seek European Union partners to help it contend with tougher EU CO2 emission rules next year, Transport Minister Martin Kupka and the country's main sector lobby said on Friday.

The EU will lower a cap on average emissions from new vehicles sales to 94 grams/km from 116g/km. Exceeding that cap could lead to fines of 95 euros ($104.80) per excess CO2 g/km multiplied by the number of vehicles sold.

The car industry is the Czech Republic's biggest sector, contributing around 9% of the country's GDP, and has warned of shrinking competitiveness as emissions limits get stricter from 2025, risking hefty fines.

The country's Automotive Industry Association (AutoSAP) said addressing this was necessary.

"Under current market conditions, it is virtually impossible to meet these targets, which would lead to massive penalties in the hundreds of billions of crowns for car manufacturers," said AutoSAP president Martin Jahn, who is also a board member at Volkswagen-owned Czech carmaker Skoda Auto.

"An early revision of the CO2 targets is essential."

AutoSAP and Kupka said the country also wanted to assess the bloc's aim to ban combustion engine vehicles in 2035, part of EU climate goals. Kupka said he would seek other member states for support.

"Together we will do everything to ensure we do not have to think about factory closures and job losses at home, or the loss of individual mobility," Kupka said.

The EU passed a policy last year that will ban sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035, effectively ending sales of new combustion engine vehicles running on petrol and diesel.

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(Reporting by Jason Hovet, Editing by Louise Heavens)