The European Parliament adopted by 641 votes to 37 with 24 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending the revised proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of clean and energy efficient road transport vehicles. The report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Dan JØRGENSEN (PES, DK) on behalf of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
The amendments were the result of a compromise between Parliament and Council. The main amendments– adopted at 1st reading of the codecision procedure – are as follows:
Subject matter and aim: the Directive requires contracting authorities, contracting entities as well as certain operators to take into account lifetime energy and environmental impacts, including energy consumption and emissions of CO2 and of certain pollutants, when purchasing road transport vehicles. A new recital explains that the Directive aims to stimulate the market for clean and energy efficient vehicles, and especially - since this would have a substantial environmental impact - to influence the market for standardised vehicles produced in larger quantities such as passenger cars, buses, coaches and trucks, by ensuring a level of demand for clean and energy efficient road transport vehicles which is sufficiently substantial to encourage manufacturers and the industry to invest in and further develop vehicles with low energy consumption, CO 2 emissions, and pollutant emissions
Exemptions: Member States may exempt from the requirements laid down in the Directive contracts for the purchase of road transport vehicles referred to in Article 2(3) of Directive 2007/46/EC, which are not subject to type approval or individual approval on their territory.
Scope: the Directive shall apply to contracts for the purchase of road transport vehicles by:
- contracting authorities or contracting entities insofar as they are under an obligation to apply the procurement procedures set out in Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC;
- operators for the discharge of public service obligations under a public service contract within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road in excess of a threshold which shall be defined by Member States not exceeding the threshold values as set out in Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC.
Purchase: all contracting authorities, contracting entities and operators, when purchasing road transport vehicles, must take into account the operational lifetime energy and environmental impacts (energy consumption, emissions of CO 2, and emissions of pollutants, including NOx, NMHC, and particulate matter), but the compromise text states that they must fulfill this requirement by applying at least one of the following options:
- by setting technical specifications for energy and environmental performance in the documentation for the purchase of road transport vehicles on each of the impacts considered, as well as any additional environmental impacts; or
- by including energy and environmental impacts in the purchasing decision, whereby: in cases where a procurement procedure is applied, this will be done by using these impacts as award criteria; and, in cases where these impacts are monetised for inclusion in the purchasing decision, the methodology for the calculation of lifetime costs shall be used.
Methodology for the calculation of operational lifetime costs: this includes calculation in units of energy consumption per kilometre whether this is given directly, which is the case for instance for electrical cars, or not. The methodology is set out in Article 6.
Best practice exchange: the Commission will facilitate and structure the exchange of knowledge and best practices between Member States on practices for promoting the purchase of clean and energy efficient vehicles by contracting authorities, contracting entities and operators.
Report: in its report, the Commission shall compare the nominal and relative figures of vehicles purchased corresponding to the best market alternative in terms of lifetime energy and environmental impacts, within each of the categories of vehicles listed in Table 3 of the Annex, to the overall market for these vehicles and estimate how the options referred to above have affected the market, and assess the need for further action and include proposals as appropriate. No later than the date of the first report, the Commission shall examine the options, present an evaluation of the methodology for the calculation of operational lifetime costs and propose appropriate adjustments if necessary.