Car CO2 emissions
Merkel rides roughshod over democratic process in pushing for scale-back of emissions targets
EU environment ministers today decided to overturn an agreement already reached between the European Parliament and Council on CO2 emissions limits for vehicles for 2020. A legislative agreement had been reached to implement a fleet average for car CO2 emissions of 95g of CO2 per km by 2020 but the German government has insisted this be revised ahead of votes in the European Parliament and Councils to confirm the agreement. EU environments today agreed to try and review the agreement. Commenting on the outcome of the environment council, Greens/EFA co-president Rebecca Harms stated:
"German Chancellor Merkel has ridden roughshod over the EU's democratic decision-making process by strong-arming other EU governments into reneging on this legislative agreement. What is the point of the EU's democratic legislative process if the German government can simply ignore the outcome and force through its will and its narrow national interest?
"The agreement reached between the EP and Council was already low on ambition. Weakening the agreed 2020 limits, which have long been known, is a shameful sop to German car manufacturers and will slow the development of new technologies to deliver more efficient and less polluting cars. Unfortunately, some in the European car industry continue to view climate protection and competitiveness as mutually exclusive rather than complementary."
