Europe: Commission admonishes OEMs over emissions; legal action likely
Wednesday, December 13, 2006, AutomotiveWorld.com
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has appealed to the European Commission (EC) not to impose carbon dioxide emissions limits on vehicle manufacturers as reducing emissions, it claims, is not the responsibility of the automotive industry, Reuters has reported.
Ivan Hodac, ACEA secretary general, says policy makers must take part of the blame for their failure to shift taxation so as to encourage sales of cleaner cars. He said that without financial incentives, consumers were not willing to pay more for fuel efficient cars.
According to officials, a lasting solution to limit emissions will be to encourage the use of biofuels and the addition of 10% biofuel to conventional fuels could enable the industry to meet the target of reducing emissions to 120g/km by 2012.
The EC has warned vehicle manufacturers of impending legal action if they fail to meet voluntary emissions targets. Georgette Lalis, director of the EC's consumer goods directorate, says the Commission is expected to take a decision in January.
In 2004, average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars in the then 15 EU member states fell by 12.4% against 1995 levels, far below the target of a 25% reduction due to be met by 2008-09. While European manufacturers have agreed to reduce emissions from new cars to an average of 140g/km by 2008, Japanese and Korean manufacturers have agreed to meet that target by 2009.
Published on Wednesday, December 13, 2006
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