Trucks parked – Photo by Lidia Volovaci on Pexels
(STRASBOURG) – The EU Parliament and Council reached provisional agreement Thursday to strengthen CO2 emissions standards for new heavy-duty vehicles entering the EU market from 2030.
The EU Regulation sets new, ambitious CO2 emissions reduction targets for 2030, 2035 and 2040, ensuring this segment of the road transport sector’s contribution to the shift to zero-emissions mobility and EU climate ambitions.
The agreement sets CO2 emissions reduction targets for HDVs of 45% for 2030-2034, 65% for 2035-2039 and 90% as of 2040, compared to 2019 levels. The scope of the Regulation is expanded and these standards will now apply to almost all trucks (including vocational vehicles, such as garbage lorries, tippers or concrete mixers as of 2035), urban buses, long-distance buses and trailers. Specific emissions reduction targets are also set for trailers (7.5%) and semi-trailers (10%), starting from 2030.
New urban buses will havce to reduce emissions by 90% as of 2030. All new urban buses will have to be zero-emissions by 2035.
Under the provisional deal, the Commission will have to review the effectiveness and impact of the regulation by 2027. This review will cover the expansion of the scope to small lorries, a methodology for registering HDVs exclusively running on CO2 neutral fuels, in conformity with EU law and climate neutrality objectives, the role of a carbon correction factor in the transition towards zero-emission HDVs and a methodology for the determination of full lifecycle CO2 emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles.
The Commission has welcomed the agreement, saying it sends a ‘clear signal to manufacturers, transport operators and users to steer investments towards innovative zero-emission technologies and boost the rollout of recharging and refuelling infrastructure’.
The European Parliament and Council now need to formally approve the agreement. Once this is done, the new legislation will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and enter into force.
