France and Germany seek to push back EU car emission target

EU vehicle emission cuts could be delayed as a report suggests that France and Germany are seeking to have a proposed 2025 deadline pushed back.

Cars are responsible for around a eighth of Europe’s carbon dioxide emissions and the EU has set ambitious targets for carbon reduction in vehicles, between 2011 and 2021 manufacturers are required to cut emissions by around 50%. A proposed further cut by 2025 is now being discussed.

It is the 2025 target, which proposes that cars have a limit of emitting 68g-78g of carbon dioxide per kilometre, compared to the 95g target by 2021, that the countries are seeking to change. Whilst France and Germany aren’t opposing the cut they want the target to be pushed back to 2030.

According to the Financial Times, a joint statement from the two countries said, “We will develop joint key points for a future CO2 emissions regime for vehicles from 2030, and discuss these with our partners in the European Union.”

Almost half of the largest 15 carmakers are set to miss EU carbon reduction targets with a deadline of 2021, according to research conducted in May. Whilst the study found carmakers are making progress, it also found that success varied between individual companies, with most European brands performing well compared to US and Japanese competitors.

Photo: Garry Knight via Flickr 

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