Automakers to stick to position on CO2 emissions
MILAN (Reuters) - Faced with the prospect of paying billions of euros in fines for CO2 emissions, car makers plan to renew their call to the European Commission to improve roads and public transport to help them meet proposed limits on CO2.
The association that represents the world's car makers said it will hold a news conference at the Geneva autoshow next Wednesday to repeat their demands.
The executive body of the European Union has drafted tough legislation to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from cars, with steep fines on manufacturers that fail to comply.
The legislation has been criticized by countries like Germany, whose manufacturers make big cars that pollute more than the smaller ones made in France and Italy.
The legislation, adopted in December, is part of a wider initiative to cut emissions linked to global warming. It is to be discussed by EU environment ministers in Brussels on Monday.
One of the demands of OICA, the association organizing the news conference, is to have the Commission put as much emphasis on improving roads and other infrastructure as it has on getting car makers adopt cleaner technology.
"There is an infrastructure problem," said Guido Rossignoli, a committee chairman at OICA.
"It is right to go ahead with compulsory reductions for cars ... but it will lead to nothing if you don't include other specific measures," he told Reuters on Thursday.
The manufacturers made a similar statement at the Frankfurt autoshow in September, when they said the extra cost of meeting the limits by a 2012 deadline would hurt the industry.
Although their chief executives came out in force in Frankfurt, they are not expected to show up at the news conference in Geneva, leaving it to the association's officials.
Rossignoli said the Commission's initiative was tougher than those brought forward by the United States and by Japan, which has worked to improved its infrastructure.
"(The Commission) needs to look at what Japan has done."
In order for it to come into effect, the proposed legislation has to be approved by European Parliament, something which Rossignoli said could happen in a matter of months.
"Most probably this proposal will be adopted this year -- the end of 2008 at the latest," he said.
Its overall mandatory target is an average of 130 g/km being achieved by the use of a combination of biofuels, improved engine technology, and more efficient gears, tires and air-conditioning.
(Reporting by Gilles Castonguay; Editing by Quentin Bryar)
