EU ministers split on motor emission curbs
EU ministers battled over the extent of emission cuts to be imposed on carmakers on Tuesday, in the wake of a warning by UN experts on the dangers of global warming.
Motor industry powerhouse Germany is leading a fierce resistance to a compromise plan tabled by Austria, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
The Austrian plan would see a 35% CO2 reduction for new cars by 2030 – nine years later than the 2021 date in current plans.
German opposition is backed by eastern European member states – while Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Nordic states are pushing for more ambitious reductions.
Austria’s proposal is greater than the target of 30% suggested by the European Commission, the EU executive, but it remains well below the 40% cut advocated by the European Parliament in a vote last week.
German environment minister and social democrat Svenja Schulze said she would have liked to support a more ambitious cut on behalf of Berlin.
But she admitted her coalition partner the CDU, the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, was pushing the tougher line, which she would defend at the Luxembourg meeting.
Germany – home to Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW – is worried that if targets are set too high it would hurt exports and threaten jobs.
“I will represent the co-ordinated position,” Schulze said.
France, home to Renault and Peugeot, wants “a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions from cars in 2030”, French environment minister François de Rugy said.
Countries pushing for a more ambitious position pointed the finger at Berlin.
“The German car industry is pushing the German environment policy against the wall, we want to put an end to this today,” Luxembourg’s secretary of state for sustainable development, Claude Turmes, said.
In the absence of consensus, the decision could go to a majority vote, which Berlin risks losing. –