CO_2 emissions from cars must decrease, in one way or other

摘要

Car manufacturers have to make good on their commitment to produce vehicles with low exhaust carbon dioxide emissions or legislators will have to introduce rules that would bring about equivalent cuts in CO_2, a senior European Commission official has said. Jos Delbeke, from the Commission's Environment directorate general, told a Brussels seminar this month that industry had achieved half of its voluntary agreement to market cars emitting no more than 120 grammes of CO_2 per kilometre by 2012. "We cannot give up the voluntary agreement... unless it is replaced by other measures," Delbeke said. Delbeke could not say which type of measures could be envisaged, but they are likely to be legally binding. Taxes and incentives are but a couple of tools that are frequently mentioned as possible alternatives in the area, although fiscal measures have proved unpopular with EU governments. The bottom line, Delbeke said, was that a price had to be put on CO_2 so that emitters were made to pay for their output, in line with the 'polluter pays' principle that the EU backs.