Carmakers may face billions in CO2 penalties

Brussels may charge 95 euros per gram and per car for excess carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) said in summaries of articles to be published on Thursday.

The FAZ said the level was seen as very likely in Brussels where the European Union executive is due to adopt regulations on Dec. 19 on how to enforce an average limit of 120 grams of CO2 per km by 2012 -- part of the bloc's ambitious strategy to combat climate change.

The decision will affect Europe's biggest carmakers such as Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, Renault, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat.

If carmakers were to exceed the target by, for example, an average 10 grams, the penalty could be around 12.5 billion euros ($18.36 billion) per year, the FAZ said. The FTD put the potential fines at 4 to 13 billion euros.

The weekly European Voice had quoted German government sources earlier as saying Brussels favored charging carmakers 90 euros per gram and per car for excess emissions.

An EU source had said that was the highest of three possible levels being considered and 10 euros per gram was the lowest.

The Commission decided in January that carmakers would be required to achieve 130 g/km through engine technology, while use of biofuels and other measures to improve vehicle energy efficiency would help achieve the overall 120 g/km goal.

Credits: nikolaiski