<<BACK TO HOME

The European Parliament has voted in favour of a compromise proposal that would see the amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed per vehicle drop to 125 g/km by 2015.

The compromise was put forward by Liberal MEPs and won majority support from the other parliament members in Brussels yesterday.

The European Parliament has been debating a European Commission proposal to limit CO2 emissions to an average of 130 g/km by 2012.

Carmaking groups, led by the ACEA European carmakers' association, claimed that the 2012 deadline was too soon and that the proposals would put EU-based manufacturers at a severe disadvantage. Japan has already adopted a proposal for a 138 g/km limit from 2015.

The new proposal, which will now go back to the European Commission for new legislation to be drafted, calls for the emission target to be met entirely from improvements to vehicle technology, rather than through the use of other energy and emission saving ideas such as alternative fuels and more economical driving styles.

ACEA gave a cautious welcome to the compromise proposal, but said that the targets should not have been focused entirely on vehicle technology.

"Within an integrated approach, the large majority of carbon reductions will still come from the car technology," said ACEA secretary-general Ivan Hodac.

But combining new car technology with other measures such as biofuels and infrastructure changes would bring larger gains for the environment "while safeguarding investments and employment levels in Europe", ACEA said.