The European Parliament adopted by 373 votes to 285, with 16 abstentions, amendments to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles.
The European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission's proposal as follows.
Emission reduction targets: this draft Regulation is part of the third ‘Europe on the Move’ package. Its aim being to make European mobility safer and more accessible, European industry more competitive, European jobs more secure, and the sector to be firmly on the path towards zero emission by mid-century and fully in line with the Paris Agreement .
To this end, Parliament considered that the specific CO2 emissions of the EU fleet of new heavy vehicles should be reduced compared to the reference CO2 emissions as follows:
- from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2029, by 20% (15% in the Commission proposal);
- from 1 January 2030, by at least 35 % (instead of 30 %), subject to review in 2022.
The Commission shall adopt, by 1 July 2019 at the latest, delegated acts specifying the technical criteria for determining the professional destination of a vehicle and defining the urban buses covered by the Regulation.
Zero and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles: in order to ensure the smooth transition towards zero-emission mobility and to provide incentives for the development and deployment on the Union market of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles, the Regulation should set a reference value for the proportion of zero and low-emission vehicles in all manufacturers' fleets by 2025 and 2030.
Members proposed that starting from 1 January 2025, the specific share of zero- and low-emission heavy-duty vehicles (whose specific CO2 emissions are less than 50% of the value of the reference CO2 emissions for each subgroup determined) in the manufacturer’s fleet in a calendar year shall be benchmarked against the following values:
- as of 2025: at least 5 %;
- as of 2030: 20 %, subject to the review.
Related manufacturers may form a pool to meet their obligations
Excess emissions: if a manufacturer or group of manufacturers has excess emissions, the Commission may impose a financial penalty in the form of an excess emissions premium at a level of EUR 5 000 per g/tkm during the period 2025-2029 and at EUR 6 800 per g/tkm from 2030.
Premiums on excess emissions shall be included in the revenue of the general budget of the Union. Members proposed that those amounts shall be used to complement Union or national measures which, in close cooperation with the social partners and competent authorities, promote the development of skills or the reallocation of workers in the automotive sector in all affected Member States, in particular in the regions and the communities most affected by the transition, in order to contribute to a just transition towards zero- and low-emission mobility.
Actual CO2 emissions and energy consumption: the Commission shall adopt, by 31 December 2019 at the latest, delegated acts in order to supplement this Regulation by introducing an on-road in-service conformity test which ensures that on-road CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles do not exceed the monitoring data reported pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 and to Regulation (EU) 2018/956 by more than 10%.
The Commission shall ensure that the public is informed of how the real world representativeness.
Life-cycle emissions: in its report to be published in 2022, the Commission shall assess the feasibility of developing a method for assessing CO2 emissions throughout the life cycle of heavy vehicles. On the basis of this assessment, the Commission shall propose, where appropriate, to establish reporting obligations for manufacturers and specify the rules and procedures necessary for such reporting.
The report shall also include an assessment of the effectiveness of the modalities for the roll-out of the necessary recharging and refuelling infrastructure.
The 2022 review should take full account of the evolution of the VECTO simulation tool, which should be continuously and timely updated by the Commission.