Brussels, 25/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The outgoing Irish Presidency of the EU Council has notched up yet another success. On Monday 24 June, shortly before midnight, the Presidency reached an inter-institutional political agreement (Parliament/Council/Commission) on the proposal for a regulation relating to the modalities applying to the maximum 2020 CO2 emissions target for new passenger cars within the EU. By the end of a constructive trialogue, the negotiators had decided upon the target of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre by 2020 (compared to 130 g/CO2/km, the binding target already fixed for 2015 by the 2009 regulation) and also opted, by way of indication, for an additional 4-6% reduction of annual CO2 emissions for the period 2020-2025. However, this wish, which sends a signal to manufacturers regarding the post-2020 level of ambition, should be the subject of a prior impact assessment before it can become a target. The “super-credits” supposed to allow passenger car manufacturers to produce cars emitting low levels of CO2 through innovative methods will be maintained until 2023, and a new cycle of testing will be integrated in EU law, as soon as this is feasible but by 2017 at the latest.
The three institutions also welcomed the breakthrough that paves the way for first reading agreement on the future regulation, once the Parliament and Council have endorsed the compromise that the Greens/EFA Group in Parliament finds disappointing.
Thomas Ulmer (EPP, Germany) - the rapporteur who conducted talks for Parliament - was delighted with the political agreement reached. He said he welcomed the fact that they were able to confirm the objective of 95 grams. They have, he said, struck a good balance in terms of super-credits and decided to carry out an impact assessment in order to establish a target after 2020. The Commission, he said, has given its assurance that it will carry out a study when appropriate. Phil Hogan, the outgoing president of the Environment Council considers the agreement is “an appropriate balance between environmental ambition and economic considerations. This agreement will not only protect climate but will save consumers money and will boost innovation and competitiveness in the European car industry, creating much needed jobs in the process”. The Greens/EFA Group on the other hand regrets that the agreement contains loopholes and does not fix any binding objectives for 2025. Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany), who recalled that the European Parliament was in favour of a target between 68 grams of CO2 and 78 grams of CO2 per kilometre (see EUROPE 108365) but was unable to convince the Council, said: “While I welcome a future decision on a target for 2025 and the agreement on CO2 emissions reductions of 4-6% per year for the period 2020-2025, I regret that there was no support for an immediate and binding target for 2025”. Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France), who followed the dossier in parliamentary energy committee, affirms that the major car manufacturers, that are mainly German, have cranked up the pressure to prevent new, more binding regulations from being implemented and in order to make the objectives of CO2 emission reductions already fixed more flexible. He considers that the values adopted and the flexibility envisaged are scandalous. There should be an end, he said, to the pseudo-political incentives that reduce global effort by as much, adding that the super-credit system which is supposed to promote innovation and encourage electric cars is biased and it is still the consumer who, at the end of the day, pays the difference.
The agreement underlines the need to have an objective beyond 2020 with a rate of emissions reduction in line with the EU's climate targets. In order to accompany the efforts made by manufacturers, it provides for super-credits for the cleanest cars from each manufacturer (threshold of 50 grams of CO2/km) from 2020 to 2023.
Recent studies have shown that the testing protocol currently in force to measure the environmental performance of cars has had its failings exploited by manufacturers. The agreement stipulates that the new global testing procedure for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (World Light Duty Test Procedure - WLTP), defined by the UN and supposed to reflect at best the real driving conditions, should take effect at the earliest, if possible, in 2017 - an aim that the Commission must uphold.
The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reserves its point of view, indicating that it will study the details of the agreement. Ivan Hodac, ACEA Secretary General, said: “This is an important milestone in the negotiations, but there still is some way to go before a final agreement is voted in the plenary of the European Parliament. At this stage, we would simply like to stress once again that if super-credits are to achieve their aim of fostering innovation and bringing ultra-low emission vehicles to the market, they need to be applied in a more meaningful way, as is the case in other regions of the world. It is in everyone's interest to get clean vehicles on the roads, and super-credits are the only EU-wide incentive to help put on the market today the technologies of the future”. (AN/transl.jl)