Filed under: Legislation and Policy, Europe/EU
European Parliament takes the first step toward stricter CO2 limits
Photo of the European Parliament published under the GNU Documentation License
A battle has been fought in the European Parliament to establish CO2 emission limits for new cars. The contenders were, on one side, the members of the Industry and Energy Committee; on the other side, the Environmental Affairs Committee. The first wanted relaxed emission limits, the second one, stricter limits. We have covered the long list of proposals (here's one, another one, and one more) that were coming up but this is what the Environmental Affairs Committee finally voted on:
- Average CO2 emissions under 130 g/km in 2012.
- Target CO2 emissions under 95 g/km in 2020, although this limit is to be reviewed in 2014.
- Fines for automakers: €95 per gram per car sold for each gram an automaker surpasses the limit. For instance, if an automaker has an average of 140 g/km and sells 500,000 cars per year, the fine will be €5,000,000.
[Source: Greenpeace via Econoticias]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TheRookie 1:07PM (9/28/2008)
"For instance, if an automaker has an average of 140 g/km and sells 500,000 cars per year, the fine will be €5,000,000."
I though it should be 95€ x (140-130) x 500,000 = 475,000,000€ ?
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tankd0g 1:34PM (9/28/2008)
I hope all these people are jailed when the earth starts cooling again despite riding CO2. And I want a tax rebate.
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JD 3:57PM (9/28/2008)
In your example I believe your math is incorrect. The fine should be 50,000,000 Euros not 5,000,000.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 6:56PM (9/28/2008)
I hope nobody really thinks that any of this is actually going to stick. In 2007 on three occasions the almighty German lobby group got exactly what they wanted in Bruxelles, so there is no reason to think that this time will be any different:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/12/08/bmw-daimler-and-porsche-win-worst-eu-lobbying-award/
If the all-encompassing German mafia groups should fail, then no doubt the Reich shall resurge and overcome these do-gooders in an instant !!!!
"The committee maintained the calculation of the CO2 target based on vehicle mass..."
This is equivalent to maintaining the status quo, or not doing anything. I'm not sure that people really understand that the EU is nothing more than a little toy for Germany to play with, while the EU parliament can be bought by Angela Merkel with what is only pocket money for her......
The above mass-based measure in Bruxelles would become the only such measure in europe. 11 european countries already have CO2-based measures, but NONE are mass-based:
http://www.acea.be/images/uploads/files/20080302_CO%202%20tax%20overview.pdf
I hope I have convinced readers of the great power of the German Fatherland:
http://www.npd.de/
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JoeC 3:48AM (9/29/2008)
Karl-Uwe:
Your assessment of the situation may not be too far off. Indeed the German industry did diserve the 'worst lobbying award' for their efforts to increse the CO2 limit. I also agree that basing CO2 limits on vehicle weight is wrong since it does provide the wrong incentives: car makers will just increase vehicle weight to a point that then justifies low mpg figures. A German Hummer anybody? Then this is the way to go...
You ridicule yourself however by just falling into the good old German-bashing. Trying to convince somebody with your ideas? Well what about letting common sense decide and not some hatred gibberish. There is no Mafia, Reich or anything and Angela Merkel can buy the EU parliament no easier than Exxon can buy the next US president. Politics is about lobbying these days, not that I find this a good thing, but let's face it that's the way it is. I can see no wrong in a company playing the game, only in the politicians giving in to their arguments (endangeroured jobs anybody?).
So please keep it real, you are more intelligent than your post indicates.
Karl-Uwe Strunzen 11:58PM (9/29/2008)
@JoeC
The reason for which my assessment "isn't too far off", is the very same for which there is nothing ridiculous about the Reich or the German mafia: it's the fact that I support my statement with authoritative links, which I note you have failed to do. For example, when noting that the mass-based measure would become the only such measure in Europe, you have the full ACEA report on the issue. With regard to the German Reich I provided a link to the openly Nazi group known as NPD.
Groups such as NPD or DVU exist in every european country, with no exception. Only in Germany, however, do they have representatives in parliament. Are you claiming this is pure coincidence? If you check NPD and DVU on wikipedia, you will find that Germany today has a total of 18 openly Nazi parliamentarians (12 NPD and 6 DVU). That's 18 compared to 0 for the rest of the combined european countries! If you clearly have a very strong Reichspartei set up today in Germany, who are you to claim that the Reich does not exist? More importantly, on what basis do you make this claim?
As for the term mafia you need only consult the online askoxford.com to find the definition "a group exerting a hidden sinister influence." I'll grant that the groups exerting the hidden sinister influence in the German car lobby may not be as sinister as those behind tobacco, oil or drugs (which are indeed extremely powerful), but we are undeniably talking about a sinister group here. Putting aside all the moral issues completely here (health, safety and environmental) it is one thing for a europarliamentarian to act in the defence of voters interests or jobs in industry, and a completely different matter (and strictly illegal one in europe, not merely sinister) to be plainly bought out by a wealthy organisation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Party_of_Germany
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 11:59PM (9/29/2008)
@JoeC
The reason for which my assessment "isn't too far off", is the very same for which there is nothing ridiculous about the Reich or the German mafia: it's the fact that I support my statement with authoritative links, which I note you have failed to do. For example, when noting that the mass-based measure would become the only such measure in Europe, you have the full ACEA report on the issue. With regard to the German Reich I provided a link to the openly Nazi group known as NPD.
Groups such as NPD or DVU exist in every european country, with no exception. Only in Germany, however, do they have representatives in parliament. Are you claiming this is pure coincidence? If you check NPD and DVU on wikipedia, you will find that Germany today has a total of 18 openly Nazi parliamentarians (12 NPD and 6 DVU). That's 18 compared to 0 for the rest of the combined european countries! If you clearly have a very strong Reichspartei set up today in Germany, who are you to claim that the Reich does not exist? More importantly, on what basis do you make this claim?
As for the term mafia you need only consult the online askoxford.com to find the definition "a group exerting a hidden sinister influence." I'll grant that the groups exerting the hidden sinister influence in the German car lobby may not be as sinister as those behind tobacco, oil or drugs (which are indeed extremely powerful), but we are undeniably talking about a sinister group here. Putting aside all the moral issues completely here (health, safety and environmental) it is one thing for a europarliamentarian to act in the defence of voters interests or jobs in industry, and a completely different matter (and strictly illegal one in europe, not merely sinister) to be plainly bought out by a wealthy organisation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Party_of_Germany
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stas peterson 3:02PM (10/09/2008)
Misdirected nonsense.
Europe cities reek of diesel stink. the air is poorer than it used to be and poorer than it can be.
If the politicians got off their collective fundaments and cleaned the air of genuine etoxics, the people would be much better off.
instead they chase a phantasm, trying to remove perfectly harmless plant food.
Stupid.
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