EU Will Not Penalise Car Makers for CO2 Emissions

The economic crisis has created yet another victim, this time it is the targets of European countries for the CO2 emissions of vehicles.

This weekend, the 27 countries of the European bloc decided to postpone until 2015 the new anti-pollution rules for cars manufactured and sold in Europe.

With the financial crisis, automakers are being forced to close factories across the continent and are starting to add up losses.

Investments needed to make their vehicles issue less CO2, will be affected and the EU government agreed to postpone the environmental obligations on the manufacturers.

The pollution generated by cars is one of the focuses of the target of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions in the atmosphere by 2020.

The goal also talks about a 20% utilization of renewable energy and a saving of 20% in the use of energy in general.

The French government, which chairs the EU until the end of the year, will have to reach an agreement on the package at Europe’s environmental summit, on December 12.

The initial project is to reduce CO2 emissions by 2012. In four years, the original agreement called for a limit of 120 grams of CO2 emitted by a new car for each kilometre travelled.

The new agreement, which still must pass through the EU Parliament, provides for substantial changes.

The first is that the limit on emissions of CO2 per kilometre will be 130 grams in 2015.

In 2012, only 60% of cars of each manufacturer would have to meet the target, by 2020, emissions can not be more than 95 grams.

The automotive sector argues that it has no way of paying for these technological innovations at a time of crisis.

The agreement reached at the weekend indicates that the assemblers who do not meet the targets for cutting CO2 will be fined, but only gradually.

It is only in 2015 that the penalties will be imposed strictly.

Italy, UK, Germany and Holland are still against the fines from 2015.