Governments must carry their share of the burden and not depend on the car industry to bear the brunt of the costs on reducing transport greenhouse gases, according to the secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association.
Ivan Hodac was speaking ahead of this week's European Council meeting, at which environment ministers will discuss proposals to oblige carmakers to cap carbon emissions at an average of 130 grammes per kilometre by 2012, through engine technology.
Welcoming proposals by the Irish Government to introduce a taxation system for new cars based on CO2 emissions, Hodac told The Irish Times it was time that a concerted European approach was taken to tackle the demand side of the car industry through taxation.
However, he said that any such scheme should be budget neutral and not viewed as a source of revenue generation. It was also, he said, only one of the ways Government needs to act on emissions.
"We have nothing against CO2 taxation and it will obviously influence demand. We believe you should not work only on the supply side but also on the demand side, but that is not our responsibility.
"European governments should act on increasing eco-driving, and on improving infrastructure. They should be held responsible for this. It's no good just to look to this industry and forget about the likes of power generation and the rest. It's not cost-effective, and it's damaging our competitiveness on an international level." Despite power generation being the single biggest source of man-made CO2 emissions, Hodac says the car industry is being singled out because of its high visibility.
"Governments like to legislate and influence things that are visible in everyday society. The power generators and the other big emission sectors - which are much more important than the car industry - are not that visible. It's popular to say we have to reduce CO2 emissions from cars. I think we have reduced emissions more - by 13 per cent from 1995 to 2004 - than other industries, but we have been singled out, which is not always correct."
He claims that the majority of emissions are now caused by an ageing car fleet on Europe's roads, growing congestion, a lack of traffic management and an increase in kilometres driven.
Hodac also says that decisions taken at a European level will have little impact on the global problem of CO2 emissions: "Any changes in Europe will be extremely marginal. If you really want to reduce CO2 in passenger cars, then you have to do it on a global basis: in China, the US, in Africa. The only way you can do it acceptably is by an integrated approach." His comments came as the European parliament yesterday debated a motion to ban performance cars. Drafted by British Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, the proposal described the cars as "boys' toys" and called for any car capable of travelling faster than 162km/h - 25 per cent above the usual EU state limit - to be banned from 2013 (except those used by the emergency services).
However, other MEPs dismissed the proposal as a publicity stunt. German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz said: "We want to manufacture the cleanest cars, not the slowest." He also attacked proposed exceptions for small manufacturers that produce fewer than 500 models annually in the EU, saying it would favour British producers. "He wants to kill Porsche but let Bentley drive on."
Mr Hodac said any such change would have little or no impact on overall emissions levels. "Emissions figures show that it makes absolutely no sense. There will be little or no savings on CO2 emissions."