Negotiations between the Parliament and EU countries in the Council of Ministers begin today (4 November), with the European Commission acting as mediator to help bring the views of the two institutions closer together.
France - one of the EU's largest car producers in Europe together with Germany, Italy, and the UK - has been pushing the bloc's governments to water down the proposals and give industry more time and flexibility to meet the targets (EurActiv 01/10/08).
"There is a political will to avoid second reading in Parliament," said a Council source. Indeed, if the dossier is not adopted at first reading, it will need to go thorugh a second round of negotiations. And with the Parliament effectively in recess as of spring 2009 to prepare for the European elections in June, there is little time left for compromise.
The negotiating mandate allows the French Presidency to clarify plans that would delay until 2015 a requirement for carmakers to reduce average CO2 emissions from new cars. A compromise deal on the issue was first struck between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in June (EurActiv 10/06/08).
However, the Parliament may see things differently. Earlier this month, its environment (ENVI) committee, which has the lead on the dossier, rejected demands to push back the emissions deadline from the original date of 2012 (EurActiv 26/09/08).
The mandate also allows France to negotiate on the following issues:
- Penalties: how to make fines an incentive for industry to invest in new technologies rather than pay fines;
- The relationship between eco-innovation and the extent of CO2 emission cuts;
- Derogations for small 'niche' manufacturers depending on the volume produced each year;
- The establishment of a long-term target for reducing emssions to around 90-100g/km by 2020.
Establishing precise figures for these issues is set to be a sticking point in the negotiations. Member states' views in the Council differ according to the relative strength of the car industry in each country.
