EU clashes over car emission targets

The EU has failed to show a united front over the latest proposals to reduce CO2 emissions from cars.

Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas gave a press conference alone on Wednesday after German enterprise commissioner Günter Verheugen failed to turn up.

Listings on the European broadcasting service EBS forecast a joint press briefing between the environment commissioner and his enterprise counterpart on Wednesday afternoon. 

But shortly before Dimas and Verheugen were due to present the proposals, a commission spokesman said, “It is the commissioner in charge of the file [Dimas] who presents it. He reflects the consensus of the college as a whole. It’s not his personal position.”

He denied claims that Verheugen and Dimas had a falling out over the proposal, admitting that there were “a number of concerns” that would be added to the minutes of the debate by different members of the commission.

However, he couldn’t reveal which members would be voicing those concerns.

“It is only natural that a debate on such an important issue reflects a number of concerns,” said the spokesman.

“At the end stands a consensus, and that is the role of the commission,” he added.

Dimas was unveiling legislative proposals to reduce CO2 emissions from all new passenger cars in the EU to 130g/km by 2012, with complementary measures to contribute to further cuts of 10g/km to enable the commission to reach its objective of reducing emissions to 120g/km.

“Today we adopt a proposal which is the EU’s first opportunity since Bali to demonstrate our commitment to implementing measures to reduce carbon emissions,” Dimas said.

“There is a social shift to cleaner cars. This new trend will provide new opportunities to European industry.”

These legislative proposals are not new. The original strategy to reduce emissions was put forward in 1995, and reiterated in June when the sustainable development strategy was revised.

The different dimension this time is the use of legislation to enforce previously voluntary commitments to reduce emissions, in order to make up for the limited progress made with the old strategy.

“The voluntary agreement has not worked,” said Dimas.

However, parliament’s rapporteur on CO2 emissions from cars, Chris Davies, was critical of Dimas’s moves.

 “The great weakness of these proposals is the failure to set long-term targets. It must be made clear to carmakers that the pressure to drive down CO2 emissions will continue relentlessly,” Davies said.

Jos Dings of environmental group T&E agreed.

 “Today’s proposal contains only a target of 130g/km by 2012 which can be met with existing off-the-shelf technology. The failure to include targets for 2020 and 2025 means carmakers will fail to invest longer term in fuel efficiency.”

The commission’s proposals also include a provision for permitted emissions based on a car’s weight. What this means in practice is that the larger the car, the more it is allowed to emit, with smaller cars bringing the EU average down to 130g/km, the target for 2012.

German Green MEP Rebecca Harms said: “The weight-based parameter chosen by the commission to apply these limit values across different vehicle types is another massive flaw, which plays into the hands of those manufacturers bent on producing heavy, polluting gas-guzzlers.”

Dimas defended the proposals, saying: “What we try to do is to persuade industry to produce more efficient cars.

“People who want to buy [bigger cars] have to pay more. The consumer will choose a car that will save him a lot of money in fuel prices.”

• Previous article
• Next article