The European Parliament's transport committee adopted an opinion on Tuesday (22 June) on Commission proposals to set emissions reduction targets for light commercial vehicles, calling for more ambitious targets.
The European Commission would like vans to cut CO2 emissions to 175 grammes of CO2 per kilometre by 2016, phasing in the reduction from 2014 to reach 135g CO2/km by 2020.
The transport committee said the first target should be 160g CO2/km but argued that manufacturers should be given until 2017 for their full fleet to meet it.
"Once again, rather than using a carrot, the EU is whacking our vehicle manufacturers with a big stick," said Czech MEP Oldřich Vlasák (European Conservatives and Reformists), who drafted the opinion. He personally disagreed with tougher reductions, arguing that "unrealistic targets would add significantly to the costs of manufacturing light commercial vehicles".
The opinion will pass on to the environment committee, which drafts the Parliament's final response.
Conservative MEP Martin Callanan (ECR; UK), who is steering the dossier through Parliament, has proposed to introduce a speed limit of 120 km/h for vans by 2015 as a means of cutting CO2 emissions. So far, however, the idea has received a mixed response.
MEPs in the environment committee are set to vote on their first-reading position in September.
Several EU ministers, on the other hand, have said that the introduction of CO2 reduction targets should be delayed.
Opinion divided
When they first debated the draft law in March, ministers from large car-manufacturing countries like Germany and Italy argued that the industry should be given more time to produce more efficient vehicles.
Moreover, most national capitals called for a study to confirm the feasibility of the 2020 target. They were divided, with some arguing that it is difficult to achieve the 135g CO2/km goal so early, while others called for more stringent limits.
Environmentalists, however, have been saying that fuel efficiency improvements have already brought the proposed targets within reach of some of Europe's biggest-selling vans.
A new study published by environmental NGO Transport & Energy this week (21 June) argued that vans could be made 16% more fuel efficient and 10% cheaper by reducing the size of engines.
"Just by returning to the engine power of ten years ago, vans could be cheaper to buy, and much more fuel efficient. It's a win win for the millions of businesses that depend on keeping costs down, especially in a crisis," said Kerstin Meyer of T&E.
Passing the legislation promises to be a battle similar to the one which took place when the EU agreed similar CO2 standards for cars in 2008. The European Commission is, however, keen to see the legislation pass as transport emissions continue to rise at an alarming rate.
