Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cars, Germany Urges

BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 22, 203 (ENS) - German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin has called for European legislation that would force car manufacturers to reduce average new vehicle carbon dioxide emissions to 120 grams per kilometer (g/km) by 2012. The statement represents a serious challenge to the European Union's flagship voluntary agreement with industry.

Trittin told fellow EU environment ministers in Brussels today that a "clear indication" given by the industry that it would not meet the target means legally binding measures are now needed.

German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin represents the Green Party in German's Red/Green coalition government. (Photo courtesy IISD/ENB-Leila Mead)

Trittin's comments followed a presentation by Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom confirming that European motor industry group ACEA has told the Commission the 120 grams target is unachievable. The Commission is due to issue its latest annual report on the agreement in January.

ACEA, the Association des Constructeurs Européens d' Automobiles, represents the interests of 13 European car, truck and bus manufacturers at the European level and throughout the world.

Wallstrom waved away Trittin's call for immediate legislative action, suggesting that ACEA could be playing down their chances of meeting the benchmark in a bid to get the figure revised.

"I think they said the same about the intermediate target [which the industry met]," she told reporters after the meeting.

"We both have an interest in retaining the format of the voluntary agreement...but we cannot exclude doing something else," if this does not yield the required emission reductions, Commissioner Wallstrom said.

Earlier she told ministers that EU governments and Members of the European Parliament would have to "show clear signs of willingness to take difficult decisions on fiscal measures and labeling" of vehicles' fuel economy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions if it does turn out the target cannot otherwise be met.

Cars on the A1 Motorway, Leiden, The Netherlands (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

As expected, ministers deferred until next year serious negotiations on a revision of the EU's bathing water legislation, known as a directive. The Commission is refusing to compromise over its proposal for limits on microbiological contamination in coastal waters.

The Commission wants to set binding targets that it calculates would cut the risk of contracting gastroenteritis during bathing in the sea from 12 percent currently to five percent. Many EU member states want an indicative target instead.

At the meeting Spain came out in support of the Commission, alongside Greece and Germany.

Portugal, Belgium and the UK reaffirmed their insistence on non-binding goals.

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage held a demonstration outside the meeting in support of the European Parliament's bid to extend the directive to waters used for other recreational activities, though the issue did not feature in the debate.

In the third major agenda item, the environment ministers debated the draft directive linking EU emissions trading to the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms.

Sources close to the negotiations say a broad consensus now exists for linking with with the Clean Development Mechanism from 2005 and with Joint Implementation from 2008.

The Clean Development Mechanism allows industrialized countries governed by the protocol to earn certified emission reductions (CERs) that they can apply to their own national targets by building renewable energy or carbon absorbing projects in developing countries.

Under the Joint Implementation mechanism, two or more industrialized countries with emissions targets under the protocol can jointly invest in such projects to earn emission reduction units (ERUs). Each partner can accredit its percentage of emissions reductions to its own national target.

The trading of greenhouse gas emissions credits under the protocol appears to be headed for a robust future. There is consensus among the environment ministers that there be no cap on the number of project credits that can be sold into the emissions trading scheme, and for project accounting rules to be no stricter than the rules agreed under the Kyoto Protocol itself.

After a presentation by the Commission, the environment ministers also held a short debate on the proposed REACH chemicals policy. Dubbed REACH, for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals, the proposal is far-reaching.

German Environment Minister Trittin offered more support for the Commission's proposals than has come from Germany before, confirming an apparent shift in policy in Berlin.

European Commission concessions over the scope of the proposed REACH chemicals regulation have "to a large extent" overcome earlier fears that it will damage the chemicals industry, the German government said on Friday.

Trittin today suggested that the scope of the planned authorization requirement for the most dangerous chemicals should be even wider than proposed by the Commission.

Chemical container truck rolls across England. (Photo courtesy Freefoto)

Belgium called for greater incentives to substitute dangerous chemicals with less harmful ones. The Netherlands urged a better prioritization of chemicals for evaluation. Sweden suggested that chemical safety reports should be produced for substances produced in volumes under 10 metric tons - a call also supported by Germany.

In other business, the council adopted a resolution on the EU's shipping emissions strategy, backing tighter nitrogen oxide controls from 2006.

This is the last Council of Environment Ministers under the Italian Presidency. On January 1, 2004 the six month rotating EU Presidency moves to Ireland.

Today's meeting was unusual for an end of presidency council in that it made no legislative decisions.

The European Environment Bureau (EEB), representing 143 citizens' organizations in 31 countries, said the outgoing Italian Presidency "should have done much better."

The EEB gave the Italian Presidency a passing grade for new regulations on public purchasing, and making the Ecolabel part of the selection criteria. There has been real progress on mining, and monitoring risk data. And the moratorium on genetically modified organisms was retained. "Europe’s NGOs breathed a sigh of relief," the EEB said.

But overall, the EEB was not complimentary about progress under the Italian Presidency. Said EEB Secretary General John Hontelez, "They have set a trend of prioritizing competitiveness for the European Union, marginalizing the interests of the environment, health and future generations."

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}