EU mulls deeper CO2 cuts for cars by 2020

European environment ministers could today (5 June) agree to set deeper and longer-term CO2 targets for new cars. But green groups fear the move could be used as an excuse to put off stronger short-term action.

Carmakers could be told to cap new cars’ average carbon dioxide emissions at 100 grammes per kilometre by 2020 at a meeting of the EU’s Environment Council today, British officials said. “We think it should be part of the legislation,” they said, adding that this would give “long-term certainty to industry”. 

Such a target is not included in the original Commission proposal, which concentrates on measures to slash vehicles’ CO2 emissions from current levels of around 160g/km to 120g/km by 2012. 

But according to a progress report elaborated by the Slovenian EU Presidency, the “vast majority of delegations” favour the introduction of a long-term objective. This would also fit in with parallel plans to cut EU-wide CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020. The Slovenian Presidency had itself proposed that the goal for the car industry be set at 95g of CO2/km for 2020, in line with a report by the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the subject, Guido Sacconi. 

However, it adds that while some delegations support this amendment, “others would prefer to avoid making reference to a concrete figure since there is no solid scientific basis, at this stage, to determine what could be feasible and appropriate”. 

Environmental NGO Greenpeace welcomed talk about including a long-term goal, but transport campaigner Franziska Achterberg cautioned that it had to be put in a broader perspective, saying: “Every other move is about weakening or delaying the proposals […] Today, we are again witnessing a discussion on delaying the target date.” 

Indeed, the Slovenian report notes that while “the Commission proposes to implement this Regulation in 2012, some delegations would prefer to start in 2015, while others propose to introduce a gradual implementation or volume phasing-in for the car fleet”. 

Europe’s auto industry has been pushing for the EU to hold off its CO2 policy until 2015, saying it needs “lead-time” to make the “hugely complicated and capital intensive” adjustments to vehicles and engines. The development – from design to production logistics – of new cars takes up to five years and those that will be on the market in 2012 have already left the drawing tables, the industry points out. Therefore, the implementation of a legislative framework on CO2 emissions from new cars is not feasible before 2015 at the earliest, it argues.

Presenting a petition signed by nearly 50,000 people to Council President and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa on 4 June, Greenpeace however urged governments to “uphold the last-agreed target date of 2012, and not allow any further delay nor phase-in of any kind”. 

The NGO also called for a legally binding CO2 target of 80g/km for 2020, with strict intermediate targets. 

Franco-German Summit to address the issue

France and Germany, both of which are major carmaking nations, have been at the heart of discussions so far, locking horns ever since the Commission first came up with the idea of imposing a binding CO2 cap for cars. 

The main issues of contention between them include the level of fines to be applied to carmakers if they fail to meet the targets and the calculation method for determining which cars should face the largest cuts – small ones, typically made in France, or Germany’s traditionally large luxury models? 

Decisions are likely to be put off until after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy meet for a traditional bilateral summit on 9 June, where they are expected to discuss the sensitive topic. 

The issue could also arise when EU leaders come together in Brussels on 19-20 June for the European Summit. 

Officials from the French Presidency say they are “determined” to move this dossier forward, while, for its part, the powerful German auto lobby VDA appears to be softening its stance. “We are (now) more willing to reach this goal,” a VDA spokesman told Reuters on 4 June, nevertheless insisting on a phased-in approach until 2015. 

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