Brussels, 11/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Cutting average emissions from new cars to 90 grams of CO2 per km by 2020 and those from vans to 147 grams per km by 2020 is feasible, realistic and beneficial, not only for the climate but also for competitiveness, innovation of the automotive industry and vehicle equipment industry and for consumers' purses. Connie Hedegaard, Commissioner for Climate Action, pointed this out on Wednesday 11 July, and the European Commission demonstrates this in two proposals adopted the same day. The two draft regulations are based on a technical and economic analysis by the Commission which contains modalities for implementation of the legislation on CO2 emissions reduction for the fleet of newly registered cars and vans in the EU by 2020. The 2020 targets, that the Commission proposes to make binding, were already envisaged in two regulations in force (that of 2009 for private cars and that of 2011 for goods vehicles), but have still to be implemented.
If the proposals are adopted, these will make it possible to bring average emissions from cars down to 95 g of CO2/km by 2020 (compared to 135.7 g in 2011) and a mandatory target of 130 g in 2015. Emissions from vans will be reduced to 147 of CO2 per km by 2020 from 181.4 g in 2020 (the last year for which figures are available) and a mandatory target of 175 g by 2017.
Presenting these proposals to the press, Hedegaard spoke of the fair and balanced draft regulations that are ambitious albeit realistic and that are beneficial for all. She firmly refuted the claims that the grid determining how the effort should be shared between the different types of individual cars would favour large sedan cars, saying they will keep the 2009 balance and all makers should make the same effort in relation to global mass. The super credits allowing car makers to produce cars that emit very little CO2 by showing proof of innovative policies will run until 2020, and for vans there will be no super credits by 2020. These points, which are to amend the two regulations in force, represent, she says, an additional step towards a competitive low carbon economy. It is appropriate to prepare other CO2 emissions reductions for post 2020, she added.
According to the Commission, the 2020 targets are economically justified and cost-effective given that the technology for reducing CO2 emissions and for less energy-guzzling cars already exists, and costs are clearly lower than what was forecast. Each owner of a new car may save on average around €340 in fuel costs over the first year of use, i.e. between €2,904 and €3,836 over the whole lifespan of the vehicle (13 years) compared to the 2015 target. For vans, the average fuel saving is estimated at €400 during the first year, i.e. between €3,363 and €4,564 over 13 years.
Consumers will make overall savings of around €30 billion per year in fuel and, according to estimates, the 2020 targets could bring about a rise in EU GDP of €12 billion annually and an annual rise in employment investment amounting to around €9 billion. Extrapolating to the year 2030, the Commission is banking on saving 160 million tonnes of fossil fuel (i.e. around €70 billion at present day prices) and around 420 million tonnes of CO2.
Monique Goyens, BEUC General Director, who was alongside the commissioner, welcomed these proposals, saying they would allow consumers to make fuel savings of €344 per year for a car using petrol and €465 per year for a car using diesel. This is all the more considerable as the car budget accounts for 13% of household spending, with half that money spent on the running of the car, and consumers are very concerned by the surge in fuel prices, she said, before going on to say that the production price of a green car will be higher but it is not certain that manufacturers will pass that increase in cost onto the consumer as the market is highly competitive. It is therefore an ideal period for vehicles with low emissions, and these excellent proposals have come just at the right time, she said.
For the ACEA, the targets proposed by the Commission are ambitious, the most ambitious in the world and far more binding than those in the United States, China and Japan, which will increase production costs in Europe, create a competitive disadvantage for region, and delay fleet renewal. Matthias Groote (S&D, Germany), who chairs the environment committee at the European Parliament, considers for his part that the Commission's proposals should be far more ambitious as the Commission is simply content with having draft legislation that “would keep us on track for our existing commitments”. (AN/transl.jl)