EU Deal on CO2 Car Plan Still Distant - Verheugen
Date: 02-Jul-08
Country: GERMANY
"We're still a long way from an agreement," Verheugen told reporters in Berlin.
Earlier this month, Germany and France agreed to a European Commission goal of cutting average CO2 emissions from new cars, but Verheugen said other countries in the bloc would not just automatically follow Paris and Berlin.
"Those days are long since passed," Verheugen said. Deciding what sort of penalties should be imposed for infringing CO2 targets was a sticking point, he added.
In the French view, German industry is likely to be penalised to the tune of "billions of euros", Verheugen said.
German industry, which has a tradition of building large, high-powered cars, has expressed concern that the EU targets could put its car makers at a disadvantage.
This has been less of a worry in France, a country whose car making strength has tended to be in smaller vehicles.
After initially taking up opposing positions, Germany and France agreed to jointly support a European Commission goal to limit EU car emissions to 120 grams per km on average from 2012.
(Reporting by Alexander Ratz, writing by Dave Graham)