EU aims to cut carbon emissions from cars by 37.5 pct in a decade

Anca Alexe 18/12/2018 | 07:50

The European Union has agreed to the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from cars by 37.5 in a decade, as representatives of the European Parliament and the member states reached a compromise on Monday after nine hours of talks, according to Reuters.

The EU had been discussing for months about how strict to be on carbon emissions from vehicles, as part of its goal of cutting overall greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2030. There is also an interim target of 15 percent by 2025, from cars and vans.

However, there were warnings from Germany, the EU’s biggest auto maker, which said the tough targets could harm industry and lead to job loss.

On the other hand, some environmental groups have said that the targets are not ambitious enough.

The 37.5 percent number was reached after several EU countries, including the Netherlands and France, pushed the target up from the EU’s original 30 percent proposal to 35 percent. The EU Parliament wanted 40 percent, so they met in the middle.