MEPs in the European Parliament have this month voted to make car manufacturers play a much greater role in tackling climate change, and rejected car industry attempts to weaken proposed legislation on the fuel efficiency of new cars.
With an overwhelming majority, The Parliament's Environment Committee backed the European Commission's proposal to cut average emissions from new cars to no more than 130 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre by 2012. Proposals to postpone the deadline to 2015 and to lower proposed penalties for car manufacturers not meeting this target were rejected. The Committee also said that average emissions in 2020 should be no more than 95 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre, subject to a review in 2014.
Friends of the Earth (FoE) transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said, "MEPs have listened to the views of European citizens rather than the car industry and insisted that tough measures be put in place to make new cars greener and more fuel-efficient. The new measures would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport in the UK and fuel bills for drivers at the same time. Europe's leaders must make sure their promises to fight climate change are backed up by robust action."
Attention will now shift to discussions with the European Council, as the text of the proposal still needs to be formally approved in October or November. There is therefore a distinct possibility that the measures could be watered down by national governments, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in June that they had clinched a bilateral deal on legislation, involving substantial phasing-in periods, more flexibility on penalties for offenders and large credits for introducing green technologies.
