PURPOSE: to monitor and report on CO2 emissions from and fuel consumption of new EU heavy-duty vehicles.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament shall decide in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: in its climate and energy framework for 2030, the EU is committed to reducing its emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The Commission’s 2016 European Strategy for low-emission mobility set the objective of at least a 60 % reduction in emissions from transport by 2050 compared to 1990 levels.
In 2014, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) represented 5 % of total EU emissions, a fifth of all transport emissions and about a quarter of road transport emissions and they are set to increase by 2030.
At present, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from new HDVs placed on the Union market are not subject to any certification, monitoring or reporting requirements. The Commission wishes to fill this knowledge gap with a view to ensuring full market transparency and that European citizens and business have access to fair, sustainable and competitive mobility.
This proposal implements the 2014 Communication on a strategy for reducing Heavy-Duty Vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. This strategy announced an implementing measure setting out the procedure for the certification of CO2 emissions from new HDVs placed on the EU market, calculated by the Vehicle Energy Consumption calculation Tool (VECTO), and a legislative proposal on monitoring and reporting these emissions.
This tool may be used to calculate the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles in a comparable and cost-effective manner.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the chosen option imposes monitoring and reporting obligations on Member States and manufacturers. The designated national authorities would report annually to the Commission the registration data of new registered vehicles, in particular vehicle identification numbers, VINs. Vehicle manufacturers would submit the monitoring data corresponding to those vehicles to the Commission.
On the basis of the VIN numbers, the two datasets would be combined by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in order to obtain monitoring data at a Member State level.
The selected option is likely to generate competition to produce more energy-efficient vehicles and incentives to innovation.
CONTENT: the proposed Regulation lays down the requirements for the monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions from and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles (lorries, buses and coaches) registered in the European Union.
In concrete terms, the proposal:
- specifies the categories of vehicles for which registration data, technical data and, where available, the CO2 emission and fuel consumption data should be monitored and reported;
- imposes a series of obligations on the Member States concerning the monitoring and reporting timetable, the designation of the competent authorities and the data to be monitored. These data - collected annually from 2020 onwards - would in particular concern new heavy-duty vehicles and new trailers registered for the first time in the Union, or registered outside the Union but less than three months before registration in the Union;
- sets out the essential obligations imposed on manufacturers with regard to the monitoring and reporting timetable, the designation of contact points and the data to be monitored;
- obliges the Commission to maintain a central register collecting data. The register will be maintained by the EEA. While the majority of data records should be publicly available, certain data may not be disclosed due to the need to protect private data (vehicle identification numbers), and competition reasons (names of component manufacturers);
- provides that entities reporting data would be responsible for the quality and accuracy of the data submitted, with the Commission reserving the right to verify and, where appropriate, to correct the final data.
DELEGATED ACTS: the proposal contains provisions empowering the Commission to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.