10
April 2008 Paris, International — We bring
news of one of the biggest weddings of the
year, between French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A lavish
affair, the bride will be escorted down
the aisle by the German car industry, which
has provided a very dirty dowry for the
happy couple. But, as France and Germany
look set to get into bed together, we’re
sad to say we won’t be hearing the pitter-patter
of tiny feet any time soon. Instead, we’ll
hear the continued roaring and revving of
climate-crashing, gas-guzzling car engines.
The wedding – which
will cost EU citizens dearly and be held
at the expense of planet Earth - will take
place on 9 June during the Franco-German
Blaesheim Summit. The happy couple will
share the top table with the transport sector,
they will be celebrating and dancing long
into the night. An exquisite wedding cake
has been baked, although nobody outside
of France or Germany can expect to be offered
a slice. And remember … that won’t be a
bouquet you’ll see Merkel tossing blissfully
over her shoulder – it’ll be the climate
objectives of France and Germany.
Wedding Presence
We thought it’d only be polite to lay on
a special treat for the pair – so today,
a wedding cortege composed of the most-polluting
German cars travelled along the Champs Elysée
to distribute the wedding invitations. We
even went to the presidential palace and
the French Environment Ministry, delivering
an official letter asking President Sarkozy
and his Environment Minister Jean-Louis
Borloo not to give up the fight against
climate change. What we’re really highlighting
today is how dangerous this union could
actually turn out to be.
Lifting the Veil…
France is only months away from taking up
the 6-months rotating EU Presidency. During
France's presidency, the EU must adopt a
new regulation to limit average CO2 emissions
from new vehicles. The EU must reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions in order to fight
climate change, and it is the transport
sector which is key to achieving this –
while other sectors have seen decreasing
emissions, since 11000 the transport sector’s
have increased by around 26%.
European car manufacturers,
of course, have been ferociously opposing
binding regulation. In 1998 they made a
voluntary commitment to reduce CO2 emissions
from new cars to 140 g/km by the beginning
of this year, but so far they’ve only managed
an average of 160 g/km. Fortunately for
them, they have a champion for their cause
– the bride herself, obsessed by the financial
interests of Germany’s car industry.
Leading us up the aisle
France has, until now, strongly favoured
penalties, a size-based criteria for burden-sharing
and the targets set for 2012. Sarkozy has
constantly repeated the message that everyone
must do the maximum possible to address
climate change. Now it appears that Sarkozy
is going to make a u-turn as the wedding
car sweeps the newlyweds off on a honeymoon.
If the pre-nuptial
agreement also involves a little backsliding
on its own stance on climate change, it
seems France is prepared to sign the dotted
line. As both France and Germany are major
car-making countries, it’s extremely likely
that any deals struck between them will
also become the position of all EU Member
States.
This particular wedding may set a trend
that others will follow…and the bride hasn’t
even had the decency to blush.
