EU: Germany Seeks to Undermine CO2 Plan

The European Commission is criticizing efforts by Germany and its automakers to enlarge loopholes in proposed emission-reduction rules for the benefit of their luxury and performance cars, Reuters reports.

The news service cites an unpublished EC report that says easing emissions standards for such vehicles would threaten the region's goal of cutting emissions from new vehicles to an average 95 grams of carbon dioxide or less per kilometer by 2020.

The German auto industry wants more of the so-called supercredits that allow companies to make vehicles that exceed CO₂ limits if they also produce low- or zero-emission vehicles. Such automakers as BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen worry that their most profitable models might otherwise fail to meet stricter emissions targets.

The current plan would grant each manufacturer supercredits to cover the sale of about 20,000 higher-emission vehicles.

Granting additional credits would undermine the goal of making piston-powered vehicles more environmentally friendly, according to the EC report. It adds allowing more supercredits could delay attainment of the 2020 goals, thus hampering the government's ability to set further tailpipe emissions regulations.