Environmentalists decried it as a failure of will, but MEPs said their vote to ease emission targets for light vehicles was grounded in realism. Voting draft legislation recently, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee set new limits for emissions from "light commercial vehicles" (those weighing under 2,610 kg) - which make up around 12% of road vehicles - but acknowledged that the crisis-hit industry should be granted easier targets than those proposed by the European Commission.

The committee's amendments were backed by 32 votes for, with 25 against and one abstention, and call on the auto industry to make less-polluting vans starting from 2014. The proposal, drafted by British Conservative Martin Callanan follows EU legislation regulating passenger car emissions, which was approved last year. Some MEPs backed the Commission proposal that manufacturers should slash the average emissions across their fleets to 135 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre by 2020. But most of committee, led by Callanan, recommended that this should be eased to 140g CO2 per km, due to the van industry's long production cycles and its difficult economic situation.

MEP’s said the emphasis should be on incentive schemes, such as "super credits" for highly efficient vehicles, to encourage manufacturers to achieve targets. They also voted to keep the Commission’s 2016 interim target of 175 grams of CO2.

MEPs also voted for weaker penalties. Manufacturers would therefore pay a fine of €95 per gram of CO2 per vehicle exceeding the emissions limit by 2019. This figure is lower than the €120 proposed by the Commission, but in line with rules agreed for cars. The European Parliament will put the proposals to plenary vote in November, after which Council will agree its position at this first reading stage.

The vote was slammed by Socialists & Democrats Group (S&D), with German MEP Matthias Groote saying it was a missed opportunity to boost green manufacturing in which the EU can be competitive. “Helping manufacturers to develop green technology for cars would be beneficial for the companies and for job creation,” he said. And German Green MEP Rebecca Harms said the vote was a setback for the EU's efforts to reduce emissions from transport. "All the evidence shows that more ambitious emission limits would not only be technically feasible but would also play a key role in stimulating innovation towards more efficient vehicles," she said.

Their criticism was echoing Greenpeace, which said the vote “could prolong Europe’s addiction to oil.” Greenpeace EU transport policy adviser Franziska Achterberg said cars and vans use around a third of the oil consumed in Europe, but recent technological advances have shown that this level could easily be reduced. “As long as they continue producing inefficient vehicles, the automotive industry will encourage oil companies to take more risks to reach oil in dangerous places," she said. And the campaign group Transport and Environment said the vote was “out of touch” with developments in the industry, because major manufacturers have all produced vans with reduced fuel consumption over relatively short timescales.

But supporters dismissed these criticisms as unfair. Callanan himself said the outcome was “a sensible middle way” that would benefit the environment without harming “hard-pressed” manufacturers. And EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard welcomed the vote. Although said she noted the committee's preference “for a lower level of the excess emission premium and the introduction of more flexible means to meet the targets," she underlined that, "the outcome shows that MEPs are supportive of an ambitious 2020 target, and that the timing and level of the short-term target are not questioned.”