Europe Calls for Cutting Car Emissions by a Third. Not Enough, Critics Say.<br />The proposals by the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, would force automakers to cut vehicle<br />carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2021 levels, and to achieved half of the cuts by 2025.<br />Vehicles in Europe would have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost a third by 2030 under proposals unveiled on Wednesday by regulators in Brussels, who were immediately criticized for not doing enough to combat global warming<br />and for succumbing to pressure from Germany and its powerful auto lobby.<br />The European Commission acknowledged consulting car industry representatives as part of the normal legislative process,<br />but denied abandoning quotas under pressure from the German government or industry lobbyists.<br />German car brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche<br />that emphasize big luxury cars have a harder time meeting tough carbon dioxide standards than companies like France’s Renault or Italy’s Fiat, which, in relative terms, sell more small cars.<br />The emissions targets announced by the European Commission on Wednesday are “a half-step into<br />the future,” Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen said.<br />The German government has often intervened in the past to block European rules related to emissions and fuel economy<br />that it perceived as harmful to the country’s automotive industry, a linchpin of Germany’s economy.<br />Miguel Arias Cañete, the top commission official responsible for climate action<br />and energy, spoke by telephone on Friday with Matthias Wissmann, president of the German Association of the Auto Industry, a lobbying group, the commission said.
