The EU executive hopes a further 10 grams will be removed through better tyres, fuels and air-conditioning.

But France, which holds the presidency until the end of this year, proposed that just 60 percent of each manufacturer's fleet should have to meet the standard in 2012, rising to full compliance in 2015, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Greenpeace campaigner Franziska Achterberg said that rather than limiting emissions, the French plan would give auto makers room to increase average CO2 emissions across their fleet.

"Under this proposal...manufacturers could continue business as usual and keep churning out their gas-guzzlers until 2012," she added. "Such a move would be bad news for European consumers and the environment."

The French document also suggested a longer-term target of cutting car emissions to 95-110 grams per km by 2020. Up to 7 grams of the cuts could be achieved through new technologies other than engine improvements, such as solar panels on roofs.

The French proposal foresees a complex, graduated system of fines that would ease the penalty on manufacturers that narrowly miss their targets.

POLITICAL PRESSURE

Auto making nations led by Germany, which specialises in powerful, heavy luxury vehicles such as Mercedes and BMW, which emit the most greenhouse gases, have pressed for a softening of the Commission's original plan.

The big carmakers have argued that a rush to legislate puts jobs and export earnings at risk, because there is no guarantee consumers will buy greener cars when they are put on the market.

They also say new designs need about five years to roll off the production line, making 2012 goals difficult to achieve.

Italy, which specialises in lighter, less polluting cars such as Fiat, has been angered by France and Germany dominating the political process and says the draft rules now favour heavy cars by linking emissions caps to weight.

"(It) is the result of political pressure aimed at protecting particular interests of a few market participants in the car sector," Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.

The environment committee of the European Parliament, which shares the duty of drafting legislation with EU member states, last week rejected a similar swathe of changes to those proposed by France, saying they were too soft on the auto industry.

Member states and parliament have to agree on the same rules for the legislation to be adopted. (Additional reporting by Alberto Sisto in Rome, editing by Paul Taylor and Anthony Barker)