Brussels, 27/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - A few days before the Environment Council which is due, on 3 March, to hold its first political debate on the proposal for a regulation to compulsorily reduce average CO2 emissions from private cars and light commercial vehicles by 2012 (see EUROPE 9569), tension is mounting and proposals are coming from all sides. Car manufacturers, member states, Parliament and Commission are all leaping to the defence of interests, whether they be specific sectoral or national, or environmental, or for a fair balance to be found between the competing interests - and all believe they are acting in the European interest.
At the Competitiveness Council of 25 February, member states were divided over the arrangements proposed by the Commission (a system based on the weight of the vehicle and a curve of limit values in relation to the weight) to force car manufacturers to bring average CO2 emissions in new cars and vans down to 130g/km through engine technology. Countries, like Germany, producing big, powerful cars fear that they will lose out in this binding legislation to the benefit of their competitors which produce smaller cars (see EUROPE 9610).
On 26 February, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) had their say. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas met new ACEA President Christian Streiff and its new Secretary General Ivan Hodac and heard their complaints. Believing that the new regulation will kill the European car industry and cause massive unemployment, they called for a return to the 1998 voluntary agreements or, failing that, for the target date for implementation to be delayed - something the Commission has dismissed. The 120/km target having been adopted by the EU in 1998, “the industry will have had no less than 14 years to work towards this target by the time 2012 arrives!” Dimas pointed out.
The two ACEA representatives also called for a drastic reduction in the fines proposed for failure to comply with the target, which they felt were “exorbitant and disproportionate”, and questioned the figures on which the Commission impact assessment was based. Dimas responded that the figures used had been provided by the car industry itself.
Following the meeting, the ACEA published a press release, urging the EU to shape the future regulation “realistically and constructively around the industry's manufacturing cycles”, stressing the need for a framework “that promotes the development and market introduction of a broad number of innovative solutions” going far beyond the additional measures envisaged by the Commission to achieve a further 10g/km reduction to be brought forward in a proposal in June.
In a speech delivered the same day at the Forum for the Automobile and Society at the Bavarian Representation in Brussels, Dimas said that European car makers were well placed to take maximum advantage of a new industrial revolution which would deliver a wave of innovation and the creation of jobs in clean energy and high efficiency technology.
“In environmental terms, we estimate that by 2020 the regulation will produce a cumulative saving of some 630 million tonnes of CO2. To give you a point of comparison, this is slightly more than the total greenhouse gas emissions from France and Sweden combined in the year 2005. This saving will contribute to our 2020 emission targets, while reductions achieved before 2012 will help with meeting our Kyoto commitments. And for industry, the regulation will stimulate greater technological innovation by car manufacturers, which in turn will strengthen their competitive position. We said (our strategy on cars and CO2) would ensure competitively neutral and socially equitable reduction targets that reflect the diversity of European producers and avoid any unjustified distortion of competition between car manufacturers. We also said that it had to be compatible with reaching our Kyoto targets, and finally that it should contribute to achieving our 2020 targets. I believe our proposal delivers on all of these criteria”.
In Parliament, rapporteur Guido Sacconi will seek balance
Guido Sacconi (PES, Italy), main Parliament rapporteur on this issue, has assured all stakeholders that he would work for a better balance and a better outcome for the climate and European interests. The experience he gained as a REACH rapporteur (a no less difficult regulation on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemical products in the EU) and his current mandate as chairman of the EP temporary climate change committee will be of great use in this. “I will personally meet all the major car makers, beginning with Toyota, in Brussels in a few days time, then Fiat in Turin, and I also intend to meet the trade unions and environmental NGOs,” he said, adding, “The balance set out by the Commission will in all likelihood be improved. It won't be easy, but I am confident that we can serve national and European interests”. His hope is for the regulation to be approved before the end of this session in June 2009. (A.N.)