Euro Watch

Details of a plan that would make automobile manufacturers cut emissions from their vehicles by 25 percent overall, with an 18 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions, by 2012 will be introduced in the European Commission on Wednesday after a two-week delay in which one commissioner had argued for all cuts to come from the manufacturers alone. The plan to be introduced calls for some of the cuts to come from the use of biofuels and better tires as well as from changes made to the design of the cars themselves.

Car industry representatives had said that the proposal to make all emissions cuts the responsibility of carmakers would have sent the cost of a new car up by €2,500. Other reports said that the changes would cause the price of a car to go up by around €600. The industry also contends that consumers are not interested in vehicles that have smaller engines and produce fewer emissions, and that cheaper ways of reducing emissions lie in reducing congestion and changing the behavior of drivers.

But transport is the only European sector that has increased its carbon dioxide emissions in the past 15 years, despite improvements in engine efficiency. This is blamed on increases in the size and power of cars. And so the proposal to be introduced Wednesday holds carmakers responsible for reducing emissions down to 130g/km, down from the 2005 emissions level of 162g/km. A further 10g/km reduction in emissions would be achieved by use of biofuels and better tires, plus initiatives to make sure drivers change gears appropriately.

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