The EU enforces CO2 limits and will fine polluting carmakers
It's all set: The European Commission has decided to enforce CO2 emission limits. From a current limit of 160 g/km, marques selling in the EU have to lower that figure to 130 g/km (not quite a low as the original 120 g/km target).
In order to do the math, marques will have to calculate the average emissions of the available vehicles on sale for a certain brand, not taking in account how much they sell. Therefore, the biggest effort should be made in making big vehicles more efficient, because most brands already have low-CO2 vehicles across their offerings.
So how are carmakers going to be fined? The amount will be calculated subtracting 130 from the actual average g/km value and then multiplying it by the number of cars that have sold that year. Then that amount will be multiplied by an amount of money, which depends on the year: 20 EUR for 2012, 35 EUR for 2013, 60 EUR for 2014 and 95 EUR for 2015.
However, carmakers need not to panic: The EU accepts that the averages can be calculated within a certain "team," and actually encourages them to create these teams. For instance, BMW will be able to take Mini into account, and Mercedes will be able to use Smart. Carmakers that sell less than 10,000 units and don't desire to belong to one of these "teams" will be able to ask the EU for individual targets. Special cars such as vehicles for disabled people won't be subject to these rules either.
[Source: El País]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steven 3:35PM (12/19/2007)
My French is very bad, but this is a proposal that has not yet been approved. The European Commission agreed on proposed legislation. Member states and the European Parliament must back the legislation.
Reply
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 4:40PM (12/19/2007)
Either you put in place a measure to reduce CO2 emissions or you don't. There's no point in half-measures to please the Germans and their technologically backwards cars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACEA_agreement
The European manufacturers signed an agreement in 1998 to bring average CO2 emissions down to 140 g CO2/km by 2008. Peugeot-Citroen, Fiat-Alfa-Lancia and Renault-Nissan have pretty much achieved this already for their 2006 figures (i.e. two years in advance). At the same time the German figures have actually gone up.
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gG3AOOmFPLkr2E_ivUnMr3jRfvqg
At the Bali environment talks last week, the EU was credited with showing leadership on the need to protect the environment as the US dragged its heels...But Green MEP Caroline Lucas said the compromise .. exposed the Commission as "hypocritical".
Friends of the Earth said the EU's climate change credibility was at stake and urged politicians to put the planet's safety first and stand up to the "self-interested" car lobby.
``We're not happy,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin. ``Industrial policy is being made to the detriment of German producers.'' Angela Merkel needs to learn to shut-up. Her continuous environmental propaganda bares no context to her lobbying for the most polluting cars in Europe, which happen to be German.
Reply
Auto IT 4:58PM (12/19/2007)
Steven is correct, the European Commission does not have the power to create laws, only to propose them. The European Parliament and Member States have to enact the proposals before they become law. Once that's done, the EC then takes responsibility for enforcement. The CO2 limits moved to the formal proposal stage today, so there is still lots of politicking to come before the rules are set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission
Reply
Xavier Navarro 5:04PM (12/19/2007)
The EU is a bit complicated to understand. You are right and country members have to adapt it as well. But if no country opposed to it during the EC meetings, it's unlikely that it won't be applied.
Reply
why not the LS2/LS7? 9:11PM (12/19/2007)
I bet they don't. Germany and Italy stand to lose a lot.
Reply
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 11:34PM (12/19/2007)
German cars stand to lose a lot. All Italian cars come under the Fiat-Alfa-Lancia heading, which means an average of 144 g CO2/km for 2006 (again, two years ahead of schedule). In other words they are a close second in Europe to Peugeot-Citroen with 142.
German cars are not a close second, but are a distant last, behind the French, Italians and Japanese. It is no coincidence that it is only the German lobbyists who are at play here.
Reply
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 11:43PM (12/19/2007)
I doubt the Germans have any chance of succeeding in this case.
The penalty system has yet to be decided, but a CO2-based taxation system has already been implemented in pretty much all EU states for 2008 (either as a fixed level depending on CO2 or as a percentage of the car value, sometimes in th form of an annuity).
All countries except Germany, that is. I doubt the EU will adopt something which goes against the nature of what has already been adopted in all individual countries (except Germany)
Reply
mike 10:10AM (12/20/2007)
Hello Kyoto!
Amazing how the US has out-performed 75% of the signatories of Kyoto in CO2 curtailment.
How did that happen?
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/12/kyoto_schmyoto.html
Reply