CO2 : Faut-il taxer les émissions automobiles excessives?[en] 

With cars accounting for around 20% of total European carbon-dioxide emissions and automobile manufacturers expected to miss a 2008 voluntary commitment to reduce their polluting emissions, the Commission last February proposed introducing new binding legislation (EurActiv 7/02/2007). 

The strategy would require vehicle manufacturers to cut average emissions from new cars from the current 162g/km to 130g/km by 2012 through vehicle-technology improvements, while asking other players, including tyre-makers, fuel suppliers, repairers, drivers and public authorities, to contribute to a further 10g/km reduction. 

Concrete measures for realising these targets are yet to be decided upon, with the Commission due to announce proposals during 2007, once Council and Parliament have agreed on the strategy. 

Carmakers should be subjected to even stricter CO2 limits than those currently being proposed by the Commission, according to a report presented on 26 June to the Parliament's Environment Committee by MEP Chris Davies. 

The UK Liberal, who has been appointed to steer the Commission's proposal through Parliament, is calling for cuts of up to 95g/km by 2020. However, he rejects the Commission's 2012 deadline, saying that it would prove "too costly" for manufacturers as it would not give them sufficient time to introduce the necessary design changes. 

Instead, he proposes a cap of 120g/km by 2015, but with the obligation for carmakers to achieve this through technological progress alone, rather than relying on complementary measures, such as eco-driving or biofuels. Such measures should be "entirely supplementary", he said, contradicting the Commission's proposal, which, although it places the most part of the reduction burden on carmakers (130g/km), also allows for the remaining 10g/km to be achieved through these types of complementary measures. 

He adds that a target for 2025 should be defined by 2016, suggesting that it could be set at 70g/km. 

In order to help car manufacturers meet the targets, he proposes introducing a closed-market mechanism, dubbed the Carbon Allowance Reduction System or CARS, under which producers and importers would have to pay fines in proportion to the emissions that their vehicles produce above an annual limit value. On the other hand, they would be able to claim financial credits for cars emitting less than the average. 

Cars continuing to emit more than 240g/km by 2015 should however be banned, he said. 

He also added that vehicles able to exceed the maximum speed limit of 130 km per hour applied in most European countries by more than 25% (ie 162 km/h), should not be awarded type approval to be placed on the market. 

Lastly, he called for a major shift in the advertising of new cars, saying that one fifth of all information campaigns should be devoted to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, with a view to changing consumer behaviour. 

UK Liberal MEP Chris Davies said that his proposed market mechanism (CARS) would make the EU's emission-reduction scheme “cost-neutral” to the industry as a whole. 

Regarding his controversial proposal to limit cars' speed, Davies said: "Cars designed to go at stupid speeds have to be built to withstand the effects of a crash at those speeds. They are heavier than necessary, less fuel efficient and produce too many emissions. At a time when Europe is worried about its energy security it is sheer lunacy to approve the sale of gas guzzling cars designed to travel at dangerous speeds that the law does not permit." 

As regards advertising, he added: "We give information to smokers about the effects of cigarettes, so why should we not insist that carmakers provide customers with more information about emissions from the vehicles they sell?" 

The car manufacturers’ lobby ACEA welcomed the fact that Davies' report recognises the need for sufficient lead-time for the European automotive but says that his proposed targets for CO2 emission reductions "are far too stringent". 

It also criticises Davies' focus on vehicle technology alone, saying that a combination of efforts could achieve better and more cost-effective results for the environment, the industry and society as a whole. 

The group terms Davies' suggestions to ban certain types of cars and limit the speed of cars as "political symbolism" and calls for more realism. It adds: "The contribution biofuels can make is much more substantial because a 1% penetration of biofuels already means a reduction of 5 gCO2/per km for the average fleet performance." 

Infrastructure adjustments, eco-driving, fleet renewal and CO2-related taxation, to shape the demand for and the use of cars, would also contribute significantly, it states, stressing that EU policy must address all these factors. 

Green NGO T&E (European Federation for Transport and Environment) told EurActiv that it "fundamentally disagrees" with the notion, voiced by Davies in his report, that it would be "too costly" to achieve the reductions by 2012. "The off-the-shelf technology necessary to make the cuts is already available now," stressed T&E Communications Officer Dudley Curtis. He added: "By 2012, carmakers will have already known about the 12g/km target for basically 17 years so the idea that they need longer is crazy." 

He nevertheless welcomed the return to the '120g/km through technological improvements alone' target, saying that Europe needs a transparent system. He added that Davies' proposed CARS system could maybe help to provide the penalties and the incentives needed to convince manufacturers to comply with targets. 

The UK motoring guide 'Clean Green Cars' has issued a study rebutting the argument that manufacturers need longer implementation periods. 

The study looks at emissions from all model ranges in each class of car currently on sale (ranging from 'supermini' and medium cars to luxury sports and off-road vehicles) and concludes that, if all cars were brought up to the level of the most efficient in their category, average emissions from the automotive industry would already drop to 140.8 g/km rather than the current 162g/km. 

"There is no reason why manufacturers cannot follow best practice. If for example, the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 can all manage an average of 109 g/km, why do some model ranges of the same size have an average figure of up to 149 g/km? At the other extreme, if the Ford Galaxy range has an average of 171 g/km, why do some multi-purpose vehicles have a figure of well over 200 g/km?" the study asks.