European Parliament committee adopts Dalli’s 45% car emissions cut proposal

The European Parliament’s environment committee on Monday adopted a piece of legislation piloted by Labour MEP Miriam Dalli that will look to decrease CO2 emissions from cars and vans by 45% across the EU.

The legislation will set emissions targets from new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to be achieved by 2030. At 45%, the emissions target adopted by the committee is significanly higher than the 30% originally proposed by the European Commission. 

Contacted by MaltaToday after the vote, Dalli said she was extremely satisfied with the result.

“The odds were stacked against my legislative proposal with  heavy lobbying from the car industry against a reduction in CO2 emissions,” she said.

“Giving in to these demands would have meant another setback for our citizens, their health and the environment.”

The result, she said was the result of “tough negotiations, compromise  and persuasion”.  

Dalli submitted her proposals amidst intensive lobbying from car manufacturers and industry players including workers’ representatives who fear job losses if it were to be accepted.

In addition to a 45% emission reduction target, the report also proposes the introduction of testing of real-world CO2 emissions, rules on the reporting of data from fuel consumption meters and a revision of the car-labeling directive to provide consumers with accurate and comparable information on fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and air pollutant emissions of cars and vans.

The legislation will now be put to a vote during a plenary session of the European Parliament in the coming months for Dalli to have a mandate to start negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.