EU fails to agree on emissions targets for new cars
The European Parliament, the EU Commission and the member states led by the Austrian Council Presidency have postponed their talks in the dispute over stricter climate protection targets for new cars in the EU. So far they have not been able to reach an agreement.
As reported, the EU countries are demanding a 35 per cent reduction in carbon emissions for new cars by 2030, while the EU Parliament has so far insisted on a 40 per cent reduction. Negotiations will not be resumed until next year.
In the current trialogue – that is when the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the member states confer – they are obliged to set binding limits for lower CO2 emissions from passenger cars from 2030 onwards. However, still every percent is being fought over tooth and nail.
Meanwhile, the automobile associations deliver their usual lobbying litany of an impending “job killer” and the perceived technical feasibility of stricter emission targets.
Commentators and politicians though, and really anybody who has read the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are sending out warnings that the EU requirements do not even come close to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Accordingly, progressive MEPs have demanded 50 percent cuts or even higher.
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