EU committee proposes easing cap on carbon emissions on some cars

Bloomberg News
Published: September 1, 2008

BRUSSELS: A European Parliament committee on Monday proposed easing a cap on carbon dioxide from cars by excluding some vehicles for three years to allay German worries about the cost for automakers such as Daimler and Porsche.
The European Union assembly's industry committee recommended imposing the emission curbs on 60 percent of the car fleet initially in 2012 and raising the share of vehicles covered gradually to 100 percent in 2015. EU regulators proposed introducing the cap on all new cars sold in the EU in 2012.
"This is an attempt to find a reasonable compromise between climate policy and the automobile industry's competitiveness," Werner Langen, a German member of the industry committee, said in an interview. The position is an opinion for the Parliament's environment committee, which is due to give its verdict on Sept. 9. The law ultimately needs the support of the full 785-seat assembly and of EU national governments.
At stake is draft EU legislation that pits predominantly German premium brands against smaller, cleaner cars from PSA Peugeot Citroën of France and Fiat of Italy. The planned measures also affect non-European manufacturers including General Motors, Toyota Motor and Hyundai Motor.
About 15 million autos are sold each year in the EU, with cars accounting for more than 10 percent of releases of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for rising global temperatures. Average car prices may rise by €1,300, or $1,898, because of spending on the new technology required, according to the European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, which proposed the legislation last December.

The commission's proposal would cut average car carbon dioxide emissions by a fifth to 130 grams a kilometer in 2012 through varying targets for individual manufacturers. The heaviest autos would be required to make the biggest reductions under the plan, which would be backed by fines.
The Parliament's industry committee also recommended reducing the planned fines, which under the commission proposal would reach €95 for every gram/kilometer above the limits, multiplied by the number of vehicles sold. The industry committee said the maximum penalty should be €40.
In a further dilution, the committee recommended a bonus system under which automakers would be allowed to count each new passenger car with emissions of less than 50 grams a kilometer and each new alternative-fuel vehicle as one-and-a-half cars and every zero-emissions vehicle as three cars through 2015.
Environmental groups criticized the proposed changes and urged the environment committee to reject them next week.
"It is questionable whether the agreed climate targets will ever be met given the combination of weak penalties and gigantic loopholes," Greenpeace said. The European Federation for Transport and Environment said the recommendations risked making the legislation "almost completely meaningless."