Brussels, 25/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - In order to attain the EU objective of limiting the average level of CO2 emissions from new cars sold in the EU to 95 g/km by 2020 (compared to 130 g/km at present), the environment committee at the European Parliament, chaired by Matthias Groote (S&D, Germany), proposed on Wednesday 24 April that car manufacturers should be helped in their efforts by a “super-credit” system of bonuses likely to encourage innovation. A cap, however, would be placed on the super-credits. The committee also called for longer-term indicative targets to be established - 68 to 78 g/km by 2025 - and called for more reliable testing protocols to be set in place as a matter of urgency in order to measure the environmental performance of cars. These demands were made during voting on the report by Thomas Ulmer (EPP, Germany), adopted by a comfortable majority (47 votes to 17, with 1 abstention) on the arrangements for reaching the 95 g/km objective established by the proposal for revision of the 2020 reduction targets for private cars.
These targets represent maximum average emissions authorised for car makers registered in the EU but, when producing fewer than 1,000 cars a year, they are exempt from the legislation, the parliamentary committee states. Alongside the older, larger or more polluting cars, makers must produce clean models in order to achieve an average of 95 g/km in 2020, on pain of penalties.
This objective confirmed by the environment committee means that new cars sold in 2020 will, on average, save 3.9 litres/100 km. To achieve this, car makers may use a system of “super credits”, which assign a favourable weighting to cars emitting less than 50g of CO2. Each of these extra clean vehicles will, within each manufacturer's balance, weigh the equivalent of 3.5 cars in 2013 falling to 1.5 from 2016 and to 1 as of 2024. Any increase in the emissions target for each manufacturer deriving from the super-credits would be capped at 2.5 g. MEPs say it should not be possible to transfer any unused super-credits from one year to another.
The objective of 68 to 78 g/km for 2025 would make fuel consumption fall below 3 litres/100 km (compared to 5.5 litres/100 km on average at present according to tests carried out, but around 6.6 litres/100 km on the road).
Recent studies have shown that the test protocol currently in force for measuring the environmental performance of cars has had its failings exploited by makers. The result is that the consumption and emission figures announced are often far from those observed under real driving conditions, the committee points out. MEPs therefore call for the current procedure to be replaced as a matter of urgency, in EU law, by the new World Light Duty Test Procedure (WLTP) defined by the United Nations, if possible by 2017, on the grounds that WLTP better reflects the real conditions in which cars are used. The parliamentary vote paves the way to negotiations with the Council of the EU to be conducted by the rapporteur (the opening of these talks was approved by 46 votes to 17 and 2 abstentions).
European suppliers of parts and components that come under the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA) also welcomed the vote, saying, as declared by Jean-Marc Cales, CLEPA Director (our translation): “The targets of 95 grams/km and of 147 grams/km are the best compromise between the costs and benefits of CO2 emissions reductions and they will contribute to safeguarding the competitive edge that the European automotive industry has in terms of emissions reduction. The fact that super-credits and eco-innovation for low emission vehicles has been retained will also contribute to perfecting state-of-the-art technology”.
The NGO, Transport & Environment (T&E), welcomed the vote as it clears the way to fuel-saving private cars in 2020 and beyond. Greg Archer, the director of the T&E programme for clean cars, commented: “This vote helps stop oil waste, fight climate change, and create high-tech jobs. CO2 standards for cars show how environmental law is not only good for the planet but also creates widespread economic and societal benefits. The indication of a 2025 target range is real progress, but we need 2.5 litres per 100 km to stimulate the shift to zero-carbon cars”. Greenpeace, on the other hand, is more critical. The NGO deplores the fact that MEPs had weakened the EU objective for 2020, backing the super-credit “loopholes”. It welcomes the fact that an objective has been fixed for 2025. “This timeline”, commented Franziska Achterber from the European Greenpeace bureau, “would give carmakers enough time to clean up their act. But the range they indicate is still too high to truly drive investments in technological innovation”. Greenpeace is calling for a target of no more than 60 g CO2/km in 2025. (AN/transl.jl)