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NEWS
Germany delays EU carbon emissions agreement
Merkel government claims future emissions deadline will dent business for high-end German brandsGermany has prevailed in its bid to stall an EU agreement aimed at pulling national fleet emissions down to 95g/km CO2 by 2020.
With the first phase of negotiations to tighten up fleet carbon dioxide emissions regulations over the next decade on the brink of completion, Germany’s declaration that it wouldn’t grant final ratification has seen the crucial vote postponed.
Plans to implement the 95g/km target – equating to petrol consumption of 4L/100km – by 2020 need formal ratification from each member state. Germany has declared it won’t pass it in its current form, arguing the rules make life too difficult for its auto sector, which is economically and politically powerful. The auto industry claims that the proposal skews favour towards makers of smaller, lower emission engines, like French brands Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën and Italian giant Fiat.
The European Commission’s system sets targets for individual manufacturers according to the makeup of their fleet and the cuts they’ve made to date. With failure to meet their targets exposing its makers to hefty fines, Germany is worried about the degree to which the plan will cut into profits as an unwelcome by-product of reducing pollution.
Large, high-performance models and hulking SUVs spin handsome global profits for Daimler, BMW, Audi and Porsche. But while their large engines are very efficient and very clean relative to their past equivalents, they still account for more than their share of current CO2 levels, pushing Germany towards the back of the aggregate emissions pack in Europe.
From 2011 to 2012, Germany pushed its fleet average CO2 down from 147 to 141g/km. But it still stands well above the overall EU average, which dropped from around 136 to 132g/km in the same year. Although it’s improving faster, Germany faces a bigger struggle than its fellows to meet the current goal of 130g/km by 2015.
Last week, member states rejected Germany’s proposal to allow carmakers to carry over pollution credits accrued before the 2020 deadline. Makers earn these so-called “supercredits” by offsetting low- and zero-emissions models like plug-ins and EVs against those of the big belchers in their lineups.
This week saw the Union reach a compromise deal extending the existing offset system. It wasn’t enough for Germany, which wanted to apply a multiplier effect to pre-deadline sales of such vehicles, giving each unit sold a value of up to 2.5 units. It also wanted to give its makers the latitude to “bank” those credits from 2016, arguing all along that supercredits provide impetus for innovation.
Analysts and anti-supercredit lobbyists such as the Transport & Environment group countered that this would weaken momentum towards 95g by 2020, likely pushing it out somewhere closer to 2024. Unable to find the support it needed, Germany dropped the idea, but has subsequently refused to put its name to the agreement as it stands.
Now, after eleventh-hour intervention by Chancellor Angela Merkel, the vote has been delayed, with support from the Netherlands and Britain. Merkel is looking to fend off the vote until after national elections in September. In the meantime, Automotive News reports, Germany is lobbying Croatia and other countries set to join the EU in July, in a bid to find sufficient support to kybosh the deal properly.
Automotive News says the impasse has left some EU diplomats worried that the deal as it stands might fall apart if it’s delayed.
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Written byJeremy Bass
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