Published on 21.01.2013
Green cars legislation faces ‘dilution’, says Irish presidency
Tough new EU carbon dioxide emissions targets for cars are facing "dilution" due to heavy pushback from member states with strong auto-industry lobbies, such as Germany, according to an Irish presidency source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity at a press briefing on 16 January.
“A lot of member states have automotive plants and facilities, the motor industry tends to be well respected by member states, and the fact we have two German rapporteurs [in the European Parliament] may result in the commission’s proposals being diluted,” the source said, in response to a question by EurActiv. Passenger cars account for around 12% of total EU carbon emissions and unlike other sectors covered by emissions legislation, the figure is rising. Last year the European Commission posted plans for an industry-wide emissions limit of 95 grams of CO2 per km (g/km) per car by 2020, with a commitment to set new goals for 2025 and 2030 before the end of 2014. The proposed legislation was well received, with Dublin calling it “extremely well-balanced”. It is now being examined by the European Parliament, which appointed its environment committee to steer the legislation through the House. But the committee’s draft report, circulated this week, calls for softening the law’s impact on the car industry. Its explanatory statement by Thomas Ulmer, a German Christian Democrat MEP and the dossier’s rapporteur, says that measures in a Commission cost curve to allow higher emissions by heavier vehicles do not go far enough. "As, however, it is larger vehicles that generally play a pioneering role in vehicle technology, the rapporteur feels compelled to propose a realistic system of incentives, which will promote the development and use of new, less environmentally damaging propulsion concepts," Ulmer states in his draft report. Source: Euractiv