Traffic – Photo © Stephen Finn – Fotolia
(BRUSSELS) – The EU Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement Thursday night on revised CO2 emissions reduction targets for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
EU negotiators secured an agreement with member states on the Commission’s original proposal to reach zero-emission road mobility by 2035 (an EU fleet-wide target to reduce the CO2 emissions produced by new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 100% compared to 2021).
“With these targets, we create clarity for the car industry and stimulate innovation and investments for car manufacturers. In addition, purchasing and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers,” said the Parliament’s Rapporteur Jan Huitema MEP: “I am pleased that today we reached an agreement with the Council on an ambitious revision of the targets for 2030 and supported a 100% target for 2035.”
MEPs succeeded in introducing methodology for the assessment and data reporting of full life-cycle CO2 emissions of cars and vans sold on the EU market. The Commission will present this methodology by 2025, accompanied by legislative proposals where appropriate.
The Commission will also publish a report by the end of 2025, and every two years thereafter, to evaluate progress towards zero-emission road mobility. The report will cover the impact on consumers and employment, the progress in energy efficiency and affordability of zero- and low- emission vehicles as well as information on the market for second-hand vehicles.
The Commission will monitor and report annually the gap between the emission limit values and the real-world fuel and energy consumption data, with the aim to adjust the manufacturer’s average specific emissions of CO2 as of 2030.
Under the deal, existing EU funding should be channelled to transitioning to zero-emission vehicles and related technologies, and especially towards SMEs along the automotive supply chain and vulnerable regions and communities.
Other measures foreseen by the regulation include:
- The incentive mechanism for zero- and low-emission vehicles (‘ZLEV’) is revised with a higher benchmark in order to ensure that it is aligned with the current sales trends and brings affordable zero-emissions cars on the EU market;
- Manufacturers responsible for small production volumes in a calendar year (1,000 to 10,000 new cars or 1,000 to 22,000 new vans) may be granted a derogation until the end of 2035 (those responsible for less than 1,000 new vehicle registrations per year continue to be exempt);
- Existing rules for labelling of fuel economy and CO2 emissions for cars should be reviewed by the end of 2024.
Further information, European Parliament
