French Environment Minister Barbara Pompili on Monday announced that the conversion premium, which is the state aid for citizens willing to buy a vehicle, would be available only for purchases of green cars starting the next year in the framework of the government's environmental policy
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2020) French Environment Minister Barbara Pompili on Monday announced that the conversion premium, which is the state aid for citizens willing to buy a vehicle, would be available only for purchases of green cars starting the next year in the framework of the government's environmental policy.
The conversion premium program was initiated at the end of May as part of post-coronavirus recovery of France's automotive industry. It is designed to encourage the French to replace their old polluting vehicles with electric ones by granting up to 5,000 Euros (nearly $6,000) for the purchase of the latter. Under a prior program, they could also receive a sum of 3,000 euros for replacing an old car with a wide range of new vehicles, diesel ones included.
"I made a commitment: from January 1, 2021, the conversion premium will be reserved for the least polluting vehicles and will no longer apply to diesel models. It is a question of the coherence of our policy of combating air pollution," Pompili wrote on Twitter.
The government will implement a bonus of 1,000 euros for the purchase of a previously used electric car, and also allocate up to 9,000 euros for setting up for charging stations for general use and 100 million euros to build charging stations on national roads and motorways, she added in a separate tweet.
French President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet, reshuffled in July, has set strengthening green policy as one of its main priorities. In particular, last month the government unveiled a 100-million-euro worth post-coronavirus "France Relaunch" strategy to boost the country's battered economy and make it greener by 2030.
