Press Release No. 02/2015 IG Metall Wants to Play a Mediating Role in the Battle Over Future CO2 Regulations

Brussels – In the conflict over even stricter future emissions limits for new cars in Europe, IG Metall intends to act as a mediator between the automotive industry and policymakers. “There hasn’t been a real debate about CO2 limits in the past, and we want to change that now,” said Detlef Wetzel, President of IG Metall, on Tuesday in Brussels at an IG Metall conference attended by numerous high-ranking representatives from politics and business, including the new EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete.

IG Metall considers CO2 emission limits to be fundamentally the right approach. “But we need to discuss what is technically feasible and what is possible in terms of employment policy,” said Wetzel. It is not realistic to simply extrapolate the planned limit of 95 grams of CO2 at the same rate beyond the year 2020. An impact assessment of how structural change in the automotive industry—toward electric propulsion—will affect employment must be conducted in advance. Against this backdrop, a revision of the limit would be possible no earlier than 2017. Unlike in the past, unions and employers should be included in the debate. “To do this, we need a participatory process coordinated by the European Commission,” Wetzel demanded.

IG Metall does not want to leave it solely up to the market to determine what the automotive industry of the future will look like. “After all, there is one thing we should all have learned from the 2008 crisis: Industry, with its skilled workforce, is the backbone of the European economy,” said Jörg Hofmann, Second Chairman of IG Metall. Political action must promote and build upon this strength. “Employment takes priority. This also applies to CO2 policy and is not at odds with ambitious climate goals.” Hofmann therefore argued against adopting new limits before 2017. Only then, at the earliest, will it be clear how well electric cars are being accepted by the market and how much this form of propulsion can contribute to CO2 reduction. As before, electric driving must be included in the calculation of fleet averages with zero grams of CO2 emissions.

In addition, the new driving cycle used to determine energy consumption will take effect in 2017. This cycle must form the basis for the new limits. Furthermore, additional innovations in energy efficiency in both products and production—such as resource efficiency through more extensive energy-saving recycling—must also be taken into account, Hofmann said.