Environmental groups have criticised a long-awaited Commission announcement on greenhouse gases from shipping. A coalition of NGOs headed by T&E has welcomed forthcoming measures to monitor emissions from maritime transport, but says they should not mask the fact that the EU is taking no action to cut such emissions, despite the presence of numerous cost-effective options for doing so.
The Commission has given a hint of its forthcoming draft directive on weights and dimensions that will be published early next year. It says the guiding principle behind it will be fuel efficiency, and T&E has welcomed what is likely to be a boost for lorries that are safer and cleaner.
MEPs have supported the Commission’s intention to have 20% of the 2014-20 EU budget spent on actions to fight climate change.
The Commission has issued a transport and technology communication which calls on governments to ‘break away from conventional thinking’ in an attempt to boost new forms of transport energy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Italy, the country that is perhaps most associated with a love of cars, has reported last year's sales of bicycles higher than sales of cars.
