HARD SHOULDER:An agreement between Germany and France on cutting carbon dioxide emissions from new cars received a welcome from the European Commission yesterday, but carmakers and green groups criticised the compromise.
The commission has proposed limiting emissions from new cars to 120g/km on average from 2012, and Berlin and Paris have broadly supported that goal.
Europe's two biggest car manufacturing nations had been trying to reach a compromise on burden-sharing of CO2 reductions for months, with Germany fearing the commission's initial proposal would disadvantage its car industry overseas.
But environmentalists say curbs under the new deal would be phased in too slowly, with too few penalties for non-compliance.