The EU is planning to weaken a landmark piece of car pollution legislation following an intense lobbying effort from the automotive industry. In a November 7 report, The Guardian said experts claim the watered-down law could lead to $107 billion in environmental and health costs.

About half of the projected financial savings from the Euro 7 standards on car emissions law will be lost due to damage caused by excess production of nitrogen dioxide, based on an analysis provided by the Consortium for Ultra-low Vehicle Emissions (Clove). This toxic gas was responsible for 49,000 premature deaths in the EU in a single year.

Clove experts initially recommended reducing the amount of nitrogen dioxide that vehicles are allowed to emit. However, an agreement signed by the EU’s 27 member states in September would have done little to limit the amount of nitrogen dioxide produced by cars.

Automakers argued that the proposal was “entirely disproportionate, driving high costs for industry and customers with limited environmental benefits,” leading them to lobby for the proposition to be watered down.

Several sources said that the lower exhaust emissions limits were traded off during a secret meeting in 2022 in order to secure industry support for the phasing out of combustion engines in the EU by 2035.

Anna Krajinska, the manager of vehicle emissions and air quality for the European Federation of Transport and Environment, criticized the decision, saying that member states “should be ashamed” for putting the interests of corporations ahead of the health of EU citizens.

“The Euro 7 proposal is not the result of the requests from one stakeholder, but rather the fruit of a careful examination … following a very wide consultation with all stakeholders,” said a spokesperson for the EU Commission.