Brussels, 27/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - A deal is a deal, stressed Mathias Groote (S&D, Germany), who chairs the European Parliament environment committee, on Wednesday 27 June. Delivering this message to Angela Merkel, he expressed his concern regarding reports that the German chancellor had personally intervened to oppose a vote on car CO2 emissions taking place at the committee of permanent representatives (Coreper), after a political agreement was reached between Parliament and the Irish Presidency of the EU Council earlier this week on the modalities for reducing the CO2 emissions of new passenger cars by 2020 and beyond (see EUROPE 10874).
“Chancellor Merkel should understand that a deal is a deal. After tough negotiations, we have an agreement that already goes the extra mile to meet the car industry's concerns. Unilateral attempts to derail the deal will only undermine our efforts to deliver on fuel-efficient cars for consumers and act against climate change”, Groote said.
The interinstitutional political agreement (European Parliament, Council of the EU, European Commission), that is to be formally approved by the Council and Parliament in order to be final and allow a first reading agreement on the new European regulation, confirms the objective of 95 grams of CO2/km as the average emissions maximum limit for the fleet of new cars sold in the EU by 2020 and gives an indication for additional reductions required for 2020-2025.
The lobbying by car manufacturers, and especially by German car manufacturers, had already been criticised by a number of MEPs and by environmental NGOs. The chancellor's intervention adds grist to their mill. (AN/transl.jl)