MEPs vote on Council agreement for cleaner cars | WPN World People News

MEPs will debate an agreement with the Council on cutting CO2 emissions for new passenger cars by 2020 on Monday 24 February and vote on it the following day. This is important as one fifth of all CO2 emissions in Europe comes from cars, while emissions from road transport increased by 26% between 1990 and 2008.

Reducing CO2 emissions

After tough negotiations MEPs and Council representatives agreed on a deal reducing CO2 emissions to an average of 95g/km for 95% of new cars in 2020. Today cars are allowed to emit 160gCO2/km. The deal was backed by the environment committee on 17 December 2013.

Thomas Ulmer, a German member of the EPP group who is in charge of steering the proposal through Parliament, said after the committee vote: "We fought for a good agreement, combining flexibility for manufacturers, protection for the environment and the best interests of consumers. This is a good deal for the three parties involved."

How it will be achieved

The proposal introduces an incentives system for producers to build cars that emit fewer emissions. If car makers produce cars that emit below 50g/km, they can collect "super-credits" every year until 2020 to 2022, giving those cars a more favourable weighing in the carmaker’s overall balance. If companies fail to meet the target, they have to pay for each gram per kilometer (g/km) that is emitted above the limit. For car manufacturers it is important to know which standards will be accepted in 2020 in order to develop the technology needed.

Source: European Parliament