The EU’s ombudsman has found the Commission guilty of ‘maladministration’ over the failure to release correspondence between Brussels and European car makers.
[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]In a 15-page judgement yet to be published but seen by the European web newspaper EU Observer, Nikiforos Diamandouros says he ‘does not understand’ why the documents sought by environmental groups could not be released. Friends of the Earth had asked to see records of meetings between car makers and the then commissioner Günter Verheugen over the EU’s plans to limit CO2 emissions from new cars. It is the second time this year that the Commission has been criticised by the ombudsman over this issue.
Europe must stand firm over its future targets for carmakers as it cannot afford to fall further behind China.
The decision to create a Europe-wide carbon price was right but creates significant political risk. The good news is it can still be fixed.
It's about time the EU requires parts of key products to be made locally – and nowhere is this more urgent than in the battery sector.