France/Germany/EU

Surprise agreement on CO2 emissions

Article published on the 2008-06-10 Latest update 2008-06-10 12:16 TU

Sarkozy and Merkel at the summit.
(Photo: Reuters)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended a long-running dispute on vehicles' CO2 emissions at a summit in Straubing, Germany, on Monday. Merkel hailed the agreement, which had not been expected so soon, as "an important breakthrough". Sarkozy repeated his call for European countries to cap value-added tax on oil.

"I am very happy to be able to say that we both support the EU goal of 120 grammes per kilometer on all new EU cars by 2012," Merkel announced at the end of the one-day summit.

Her government had argued against the EU plan for months and the agreement came as a surprise. German carmakers, such as BMW, Daimler and Porsche, tend to make large, luxury vehicles which give off more gas.

France, whose Peugeot and Renault make smaller cars, backed the proposal.

Merkel said that she had agreed with Sarokozy that the plan will apply to cars built after 2012 but that there will be a phased introduction for existing models.

She added that the two countries are considering proposing a more ambitious long-term target of 95-110 grammes per kilometer.

Sarkozy repeated his call for European nations to cap value-added tax on oil in reponse to soaring fuel prices.

And the two countries said they would work together to combat illegal immigration and lobby EU countries to refrain from giving residency status to large groups illegal inmmigrants.

France takes over the EU presidency next month.