MEPs back car CO2 emissions cuts

Disagreements loom over the precise CO2 target and the timing

A proposal to cut CO2 emissions from new cars has been supported by members of two European Parliament committees.

Both backed a European Commission plan to get average emissions down to 120g of CO2 per kilometre - but one proposed a different timetable.

The industry and internal market committees also floated ideas to encourage people to buy efficient cars.

And they backed the idea of targets going beyond 2012 - the commission's proposed deadline for the 120g limit.

'Better labelling'

In February, the commission proposed that modifications to car design should bring CO2 emissions down to an average of 130g/km in 2012, from 162g/km in 2005.

KEY STEPS February: Commission announces plan to legislate July: First committee opinions September: Environment committee vote October: Full parliament vote End 2007 / early 2008: Draft legislation expected Timeline: Car CO2 crackdown

It said the tougher target of 120g/km should be reached with the help of additional measures, such as promotion of fuel-efficient driving and the use of better fuels.

The industry committee, in its opinion, did not specify a date for the target to be reached. But the internal market committee said it should be met "within five years" of the proposed legislation coming into effect - which suggests a longer timescale than the commission is proposing.

Both committees agreed that the a range of measures were necessary to reach the 120g/km limit, not just technical improvements to cars.

The industry committee also proposed:

• An 80-100g/km target for the medium term
• Tax incentives for buyers of low-emission cars
• Assessment of total car emissions, including air conditioning, and development of new test cycles
• Promotion of research on zero-emission cars
• A system of certification for sustainable biofuels

The internal market committee proposed:

• Compulsory labelling of efficiency categories, using a simple system of letters or colour-codes
• Consumer information that includes vehicle tax (if dependent on CO2 emissions) and deviation from average fuel consumption
• Technology to encourage good driver behaviour, such as displays showing fuel consumption, gear-change indicators, speed-limiters
• More emphasis on changing driver behaviour and improving infrastructure to bring down emissions
• Improvements to public transport

'Price increase' warning

The parliament's economy and transport committees are also expected to table opinions, and a report by British Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies for the environment committee, will go to a vote in the full parliament in October.

In today's vote, the industry committee called for future legislation to effectively reward best performance in vehicle efficiency Rebecca Harms MEP

Mr Davies has suggested the 120g/km target should be achieved by technical improvements to cars alone - but by 2015 instead of 2012.

The internal market committee argued that to rely solely on technical improvements would increase car prices, and slow down the rate at which older, less efficient vehicles were replaced.

The author of the industry committee opinion, German Green MEP Rebecca Harms, said she was pleased its members "supported plans to introduce binding limits for passenger car CO2 emissions and rejected proposals to postpone their introduction to 2015".

She added: "In today's vote, the industry committee called for future legislation to effectively reward best performance in vehicle efficiency and to ensure incentives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the vehicle fleet."

The committees voted on Tuesday, but the full text of their opinions only became available on Wednesday.