EU agrees to water down new CO2 emission standards

BRUSSELS - Representatives of the European Parliament and European Union governments agreed Wednesday to water down new emission standards for light commercial vehicles, officials said.

The EU’s executive, the European Commission, had proposed last year to enforce a limit of 135 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre by 2020, but lawmakers and governments raised it to 147 grams per kilometre. They also delayed an interim target of 175 grams per kilometre by one year, to 2017.

EU Climate Change Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the deal still represents a step forward.

“The agreed regulation will make vans less polluting and will contribute to our overall ambition to cut emissions from transport,” she said in a statement.

The compromise is expected to be formally endorsed by EU environment ministers when they meet Monday in Brussels, and later by the full European Parliament plenary.

Hedegaard said carmakers that exceed the emission limits will pay a fine of 95 euros (about $126) for every gram per kilometre over the limit - the same penalty that was set last year by the EU’s regulation on CO2 emission standards for passenger cars.