Briefing

EU Climate Policy for Passenger Cars: Background Briefing

August 24, 2006

In 1996, EU leaders and the European Parliament approved a ‘Community Strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars’. This strategy has the objective of reducing the average CO2 emissions of new passenger cars in the EU to 120 g/km by 2005, or 2010 at the latest.

In 1998 the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) committed to the EU on behalf of its members to reduce the average CO2 emissions from their new car sales in the EU to 140 g/km by 2008. This is a reduction of 25% over 1995 levels, and equivalent to a fuel consumption of 6.0 litres per 100 km for petrol cars and 5.3 litres for diesel cars.

The commitment is not on track. Car makers are not reducing the CO2 emissions of their vehicles fast enough to meet the 140 g/km target of their commitment by 2008/9.

Official monitoring of the commitment has been regularly delayed. The data for 2004 is only set to be published in late August / early September 2006, some 20 months after the reporting period ended.

In the absence of up-to-date reporting from the Commission, T&E has undertaken its own monitoring of the progress made under the commitment using industry sales data supplied by R.L. Polk Marketing Systems GmbH and analysed by the UK-based Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

 

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