Just recently, it seemed that EU automakers may succeed in weakening emissions law, but on Thursday the European parliament voted 46-19 to force automakers to abide by the original emissions law.
Automakers will now have to cut their CO2 emissions to 130 grams per kilometer by 2012, roughly a 17 percent reduction on average emission levels. By 2020, automakers will have to reduce CO2 emissions to 95 grams per kilometer.
They will also have to pay the original hefty fine of €95 per “excess” gramme of CO2 emitted per kilometer per car. Lobbyist had been trying to halve the proposed fine to €50.
Automakers now have their work cut out for them because they are already falling behind on EU's voluntary CO2 targets.
