Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-22-Speech-1-142"
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"en.20071022.16.1-142"2
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"Madam President, let me start with an accusatory question to the Commissioner. Some of us have pointed out repeatedly over the years that the car makers were failing to comply with the terms of the voluntary agreement to reduce emissions. So, why is it that, some five years after this first became evident, we still do not have legislation before us requiring the manufacturers to meet the agreed targets, because with each month of delay it becomes harder to achieve the ambitions which were originally possible?
Finally, let me just touch upon the way in which cars are promoted. The manufacturers always claim that they respond to consumer demand, but I do not believe this. I believe they shape consumer demand. Studies have shown that a very high proportion of advertising expenditure goes towards the promotion of cars on the basis of power and size and speed.
The car industry is supposed to be drawing up a voluntary code of advertising conduct but we have had our fingers burnt through voluntary codes and any such measure should be regarded with suspicion. It is time that advertisements give consumers more details of the fuel economy and emission performance of the vehicles on sale. This information should be upfront and not buried away in the small print. We need to encourage car makers to compete on the basis that their cars are safe and stylish and environmentally-friendly.
Let me finish with these remarks. Europe’s car makers produce fine vehicles. The technical expertise of the companies themselves is much to be admired, but for too long they have ignored the contribution their products are making to the threat posed by climate change. For the sake of the planet, for the good of an industry that needs to stay at the cutting edge of world-class technology, it is time now for law-makers to steer them firmly in a greener direction.
This sets the framework for today’s debate. Average emissions from new cars stand now at a little less than 160 g of CO
per kilometre – a long way adrift from the target of 140 g by 2008. Therefore, it is not surprising that Members here want car makers to be punished for breaking their commitment. Yet the fact is that the manufacturers have broken no laws and, however much we may wish it were otherwise, the level of emissions is where it is.
The Commission has announced that it wants to stick to the medium-term target setting that voluntary agreement of 120 g by 2012, but says that 10 g of this will now be achieved by complementary measures. I call this a political fudge: it has reduced the clarity of the target and encouraged some manufacturers to think that they can use biofuels as a means of avoiding significant design changes.
But, given where we are, are the target and the timetable set by the Commission still appropriate, because, of late, the reduction in average emissions has been hardly more than 1 g a year? The Commission suggests that this should instantly be transformed into 5 g a year. Well, that can be achieved – and the technology exists to do it – but at what cost?
Emission reductions must be made a priority for car makers, but they have to be achieved at the lowest possible expense. That means giving industry specific targets and sufficient time to make the changes. These improvements may increase the price of new cars but, then, reduced emissions mean improved fuel economy, so those who buy the cars will save money as they drive them. Get it right and we can take action which will be good for the environment, good for the consumer and good for the future of car making.
There is a debate in this Parliament about whether, in a pre-legislative report of this kind, environmentalists should be pressing to send a strong signal to the Commission to be tough, or whether we should try to be realistic in framing measures which might actually be those that end up close to the final form at the end of the day. That is why I am asking Parliament to break from the Commission position and recommend that the target for average emissions from new cars should be set not for 2012 but for 2015 and should be 125 g to be achieved by technical means alone.
By all means let us encourage the use of complementary measures to reduce emissions, but as an addition, not as a substitute, for these technical improvements. For those Members who say this is not sufficient, let me just say that next month we will be voting on the CARS 21 report and, in that, the recommendation is 135 g by 2015. We can end up voting for one thing this month and something else next month. If I can help bring together the different positions of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, then I believe it will strengthen Parliament’s position and influence.
I believe that manufacturers should be set absolutely clear targets with no room for wriggling. This report insists that failure to comply should result in the application of tough financial penalties. I propose an internal trading mechanism to give manufacturers maximum flexibility and give incentives to the makers of low-emission vehicles. But, ultimately, it is the penalty regime that matters and that, I suspect, will test the Commission’s resolve.
Equally important is the need to set long-term targets to reduce emissions to below 100 g by 2020. Given sufficient time, and an absolute requirement, I have no doubt that manufactures can achieve reductions of nearly 40% over the next 13 years."@en1
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