Ten-year plan to kick-start car sector

By Emily Smith

Date: 08/12/05

A high-level report on how the EU car industry can compete with its rivals in the US and China is set for publication on Monday (12 December).

CARS 21, a group of representatives from government, industry and EU institutions, will hold its final meeting next week and is expected to adopt a roadmap of priorities for the next ten years in the car industry.

Recommendations are now agreed in areas from safety to trade, but there is still controversy over the sensitive issue of making car manufacturers bring down CO2 emissions from new vehicles.

To the disappointment of environmentalists, no binding targets will be suggested. And a bid to please the car industry by stressing that efforts to cut CO2 must be shared by all sectors has run into opposition from fuel lobbyists.

The report in its current form says that CARS 21 supports the increased use of biofuels to fight carbon emissions, something the fuel industry is refusing to sign up to.

"What we wanted it to say is that there will be impact assessments first and then a decision on whether biofuels should play a bigger role or not," said Peter Tjan, secretary-general of the European Petroleum Industry Association (EUROPIA). "We might then agree, but we would have to disagree at the moment."

Commission spokesman Gregor Kreuzhuber stressed, however, that the report would propose "no new targets or limits" for biofuels, "just a clear commitment that the use of alternative fuels can help".

"We need an integrated approach to CO2 emissions. Industry needs to build cars and engines as clean as possible, but it cannot go it alone." This could mean "perhaps more efficient traffic management systems, or an increased use of alternative fuels", he explained.

Kreuzhuber said that there would "of course" be impact and cost assessments before deciding whether to propose any concrete action.

Another dispute among group members involved the status of the ten-year roadmap itself. Car industry representatives ACEA wanted recommendations to be set in stone, giving them more market certainty for the next decade. Several other members, including the UK government, were in favour of a more flexible approach.

Sources involved in the talks say CARS 21 has now agreed that the roadmap should be reviewed every year, but with as little red tape as possible. A full review is proposed for 2009.

"The Commission made it clear the roadmap must not stifle discussion of new developments," said one source.

A Commission communication following on from the CARS 21 work is expected in the first half of 2006 and will set out who should monitor the road map. The Commission is expected to play the leading role itself, but whether or not the groups involved in CARS 21 should also be involved has not yet been decided.

The communication will also tackle the question of whether to use more interest groups than have been consulted at this stage. Notably absent from the CARS 21 group were environmentalists and Asian manufacturers.

Article anticipates the final meeting of the CARS 21, a group of representatives from government, industry and EU institutions, on 12 December 2005. The group was expected to adopt a roadmap of priorities for the next ten years in the car industry.

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