Commission to clamp down on car emissions

The European Commission will take steps towards major developments on transport policy after the summer recess.

A green paper on urban transport and an impact assessment on measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars will be published in September, as part of Commission efforts to make driving more environmentally friendly.

A Eurobarometer opinion poll published on Thursday (26 July) showed that eight out of ten adults surveyed have a car in their household. The same number thought that driving habits and the type of car driven have an impact on the environment, but 46% were not prepared to pay more to reduce traffic pollution. Only one in ten said that they would accept a price increase of more than 10% for less polluting transport.

"We are living in a civilisation that is based on the car," said a spokesman for the Commission’s transport department. "The green paper will look at the use of cars and ways to make that use less polluting."

The green paper, which is to be published on 12 September, will look at problems with public and private transport in cities, including congestion and limited availability, as well as environmental issues.

An impact assessment on ways to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, expected later in September, will be followed in December by legislation, this time from the Commission’s environment department.

Road transport curr-ently accounts for about a fifth of CO2 emissions in the EU, second only to power generation. Some 12% of CO2 emissions in the EU come from passenger cars.

Stavros Dimas, European environment commissioner, in January proposed a binding target for vehicle emission reduction of 120 grams per kilometre (g/km) for 2012. Dimas’s proposal eventually had backing from Günter Verheugen, the enterprise and industry commissioner.

"This legislation is essential for meeting our climate change goals, as fixed by EU governments this year, as well as our Kyoto Protocol targets," said an official from the Commission’s environment department.

Verheugen said: "Politically there is a broad consensus that this is the future of the automotive industry…this legislation must set an example for the rest of the world."

The impact assessment will look at costs and benefits of ways to reduce CO2 emissions. Both Dimas and Verheugen say that the target of 120g/km by 2012 remains, despite pressure from the German car industry and some members of the European Parliament to push the date back to 2015.

Environmental groups say that the burden for emission reduction should fall on car manufacturers. The automotive industry, on the other hand, says that more effective changes can be made more quickly through a broad ‘integrated approach’ of measures, from new driving habits to renewable transport fuels.

"Car producers must make the biggest contribution through engine design," said Verheugen, "but all car technology finally counts. I support an integrated approach."

The target is expected to be split into a 130g/km limit for engine design, with a further 10g reduction to come from other sources. These will include changes to tyre pressure, gear shift indicators and air conditioning, as well as an increased use of biofuels.

The European Commission will take steps towards major developments on transport policy after the summer recess.