Automobile manufacturers in Europe will be forced to reduce carbon emissions if they don’t do it voluntarily, according to a top EU business spokesman.
“What we are doing is motivating (car manufacturers) to achieve targets that they have committed themselves to,” said EU Enterprise and Industry spokesman Gregor Kreuzhuber yesterday. (29th August).
He added: “This is the carrot approach, which the European Union is very keen on… if it does not work, then of course there is the stick.” That’s what we like, fighting talk.
The 2004 figure for CO2 emissions from new cars in the 15 EU original member states was down 12.4 percent from 1995 levels, though that’s roughly half the 25 percent target promised by 2008. Japan and Korea have promised to deliver one year later in 2009, in keeping with the Kyoto Protocol.
As you might imagine, the car industry isn’t taking these threats lying down. Ican Hodac, Secretary General of the European Association of Car Makers (Acea) claims a “significant” amount of emissions come from mandatory extra chassis bulk forced on manufacturers because of safety regulations.
The industry is also pushing for an “integrated” approach to CO2 reduction where oil companies are forced to introduce alternative less pollutant fuels. Which sounds to us like they’re trying to pass the Buick?