EU CO₂ limits close to final agreement

Participants in the EU CO₂ limits telenovela discussion might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Despite industry pressures and the tour de force battle between France and Germany, the European Parliament seems to have reached something that resembles a final agreement, even though negotiations will continue this week. Currently, the final agreement looks like this: starting in 2012, average CO₂ emissions from new cars will be reduced by about 18 percent to 130 g/km, with full compliance by 2015. A 95 g/km limit for 2020 seems to have reached consensus as well. However, the problem is not what the limit should be but how the automakers might be fined if the limits are not met. France suggested that stricter fines could be applied if the limits were added on a yearly basis: cutting CO₂ emissions to 130g/km in 2012 for 65 percent of each producer's fleet, then for 75 percent in 2013 and 100 percent in 2015.

[Source: Automotive News (subs. req'd)]