Germany and France have reached an agreement over European Commission plan to introduce CO2 emissions limits.
According to Reuters, chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany and France have agreed to the European Commission’s goal of limiting EU car emissions to an average of 120g/km from 2012, but with a “substantial” phasing-in period for broader fleets. Merkel was speaking at a joint news conference with French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
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German and France have been in dispute over how the emissions targets should be applied to different vehicle types. Each country has been concerned that its domestic industry could be disadvantaged, depending on how the rules are constructed.
Although the details of the legislation still have to be ironed out, Merkel said the agreement goes beyond the European Commission’s proposal. “We’re going well beyond the Commission’s proposal,” she said. “That’s important. There will be a so-called phasing in for fleets. Fleets of cars will be viewed in their entirety. The details of that will be worked out by the environment ministers.” The phasing in of the fleet element relates to how manufacturers will be fined for failing to meet targets at a fleet level.
Merkel said the two countries had also agreed to work towards a longer-term target of 95g-110g CO2/km by 2020, depending on technical feasibility.
France takes over the EU presidency on 1 July. The German-French agreement still has to be approved by other EU states.
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By GlobalDataAccording to Automobilwoche, the agreement has been welcomed by industry but cricicised by environmentalists. The president of the Germany’s automotive manufacturing trade body, the Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA), told a German newspaper that the proposal is better than that of the European Commission, but not ideal.
A representative of the Green Party said that Merkel had gone along with the proposals for the German automotive industry and those that want to sell gas guzzlers.
Aat Peterse of European lobby group Transport & Environment said: “Europe’s two biggest car
producing countries have done a deal to try to keep fuel efficient cars out of
the hands of Europeans for the next decade or more. They want to keep Europe
worryingly dependent on imported oil from the Middle East and Russia and do
nothing about the region’s oil import bill, as of last Friday standing at EUR 1
billion a day. Most importantly their shabby plan would make Europe’s climate
targets much harder to reach for every member state. It is up to the other
twenty-five countries in the EU to stand up for their own interests and kick
this plan into the long grass.”
