Brussels, 29/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - In order to encourage car manufacturers to step up efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars as they have pledged to do, the European Commission is brandishing the threat of regulation. The report published on Tuesday on CO2 emissions from new cars sold in the EU15 between 1995 and 2004 has convinced it to be more robust in its action. The report reveals that, although constant progress has been achieved - in 2004 average emissions were 12.4% below 1995's level compared with a reduction of 11.8% in 2003 - this is far from sufficient to allow the European motor industry (ACEA: European Automobile Manufacturers' Association) to reach the goal that it set in 1999 to cut average CO2 emissions to 140g/km by 2008/9, a reduction of around 25% from levels in 1995, the reference year. We recall that the Japanese industry (JAMA) and Korean industry (KAMA) took a similar commitment in 2000 with a slightly later target date, 2009.
The annual reduction rate over the 2003-2004 period is 1.2% for the European and Japanese motor industry, and 6.1% for the Korean industry. Since the beginning of the commitments, the ACEA and JAMA have made constant progress despite the fact that such progress was less marked in 2003 and 2004. KAMA cut emissions considerably in 2004, which allowed it to keep the intermediary target agreed (165)170g of CO2/km in 2004).
In a press release, Günther Verheugen, European Industry Commissioner, and Stavros Dimas, his colleague for the environment, warn that, if the industry does not keep its commitments, the Commission will not hesitate to take legislative measures to reach the desired results. “Car manufacturers have made continuous and substantial progress since 1995. The situation is not satisfactory. I urge industry to step up their efforts. We expect that industry sticks to its commitments”, Mr Verheugen commented. Stavros Dimas added by insisting on global warming. He said: “To combat climate change and respect our Kyoto commitments we have to reduce CO2 emissions from transport - a sector whose emissions contribute significantly to overall emissions. I appreciate the efforts of some car manufacturers to market cars that emit less CO2. I urge the car industry to step up its efforts to meet the 140g of CO2/km target under the voluntary agreement. This will be crucial to achieving the Community objective of 120g of CO2/kmp by 2012 at the latest”.
Gregor Kreuzhuber, spokesman for Commissioner Verheugen, told the press on Tuesday that the Commission was reviewing the strategy for reducing CO2 emissions in the EU and that it will present a communication at the end of the year including the more specific question of commitments taken by car manufacturers. No date has yet been fixed for possible legislative measures.