Public Consultation on CO2 Emissions & Cars' Fuel Efficiency

Publication date: 27 June 2006

The Commission is keen to hear from the general public on passenger road transport’s contributions to climate change and possible future ways to reduce it. The results of this Consultation will be used as input for a Communication which the European Commission plans to issue in the second half of 2006. This Communication will draw policy conclusions and recommend a way forward to reduce road passenger transport's climate change impact. In parallel to this Internet consultation of the general public, relevant institutional and industrial bodies are consulted in the context of a stakeholder working group set up under the European Climate Change Programme. The results of this survey will be published on http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice and be part of the impact assessment which will accompany the above mentioned Communication.

Background
Cars are an important part of the everyday lives of a large number of Europeans, and the automotive industry is a significant source of employment and growth in many regions of the EU. However, car usage also has significant impacts on the environment and climate change, with about 12% of the overall EU emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, coming from the fuel consumed by passenger cars. Even though there have been significant improvements in vehicle technology – in particular in fuel efficiency which also means lower CO2 emissions - this has not been enough to neutralise the effect of increased traffic, and the growth in total emissions from passenger road transport is likely to continue in the decade to come. Since 1995, the EU has consistently developed a strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, in particular through a voluntary agreement with car manufacturers, and the average new car sold in 2004 emitted 12% less CO2 than in 1995.