Piebalgs urges EU car emission cap

The EU should set a cap on CO2 emissions from cars, EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs has said.

“I am in favour of mandatory requirements for car producers – the voluntary agreement is not giving the results we expected,” he said.

Piebalgs’ words are a clear mark of support for environment commissioner Stavros Dimas in the current dispute over how to deal with CO2 emissions from vehicles.

Dimas was due to table a proposal on 24 January setting compulsory caps on car emissions, but this has been delayed as a result of opposition from industry commissioner Günter Verheugen.

“The car industry only promotes huge energy-guzzling cars,” Piebalgs said.

“The logic of car manufacturers has not changed – they have not answered society’s needs,” he added.

While noting that there should be an impact assessment of any proposal on capping CO2 from cars, Piebalgs insisted that "car makers can and should go in this direction".

Piebalgs was talking as part of his presentation of the first-ever sustainable energy week, which will take place from 29 January to 2 February.

The event will bring together industry, public authorities and NGOs in a bid to boost cooperation on sustainable energy, as a follow-up to the commission’s 10 January proposal for an EU-wide energy policy.

“To achieve the aim of cutting our CO2 emissions, we have to convince stakeholders of the need to act and achieve our objectives,” Piebalgs said.

Based on the model of the popular Green Week which takes place in Brussels every year, the event aims to be an annual forum which will “become the key annual reference point for sustainable energy issues in Europe”.

“We expect to have even more success than Green Week,” Piebalgs said.

The conference will focus on the two broad themes of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

It will involve sessions on urban transport, regional initiatives and the latest developments in sustainable energy.

The commissioner said he hopes the event will be “a first step towards an international agreement on energy efficiency”.

On the issue of energy efficiency targets for household products and other consumer goods, Piebalgs called for binding targets rather than the indicative targets currently in place.

“Only binding targets will bring results,” he said.

As for renewables, Piebalgs said state aid must go to developing better, cheaper renewable energy sources.

“We need massive investment in research and development to slash down the cost of renewable energies,” he argued.

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