Brussels, 15/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - It was a long and winding road, but the future legislation aiming to make vans and other light commercial vehicles cleaner and more fuel-efficient are reaching their destination. Going along with its rapporteur, Martin Callanan (ECR, UK), the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 15 February confirmed its agreement to impose CO2 emissions standards on fleets of light commercial vehicles newly registered in the EU, similar to the emissions reductions imposed on new private cars one year earlier.
By a vast majority (534 votes in favour, 117 against and 15 abstentions), the MEPs confirmed the agreement reached with the Council on the proposed regulation of October 2009 laying down “performance standards for light commercial vehicles” (see EUROPE 10281). It is now for the Council of the EU officially to enshrine this agreement to allow the regulation to be formally adopted.
The future rules set down an official objective of bringing the average emission levels to 175 grams of CO2 per km. At the end of an agreed adjustment period, in 2014, 70% of manufacturers' range of vehicles must observe this standard, and by 2017, the entire fleet must satisfy the objective. The long-term goal will be maximum emissions of 147 g of CO2/km by 2020, a figure below what the Parliament was calling for before reaching a compromise with the Council.
In any event, the Parliament feels that the progressive nature of working towards these objectives will help to encourage innovation.
From 2019, failure on the part of manufacturers to observe the objectives will lay them open to fines of up to €95 for every gram over the emissions standards.
For a limited period, bonuses will be available for manufacturers producing light commercial vehicles emitting less than 50 g of CO2/km. Each vehicle of this type will count, when calculating the specific average emissions, for 3.5 vehicles in 2014-2015, 2.5 in 2016 and 1.5 in 2017, when the bonus regime will come to an end.
“This legislation has been a difficult balancing act between setting ambitious but attainable environmental targets for manufacturers. This is a good deal for the environment, for van manufacturers and for van users across the European Union", said the rapporteur.
Anja Weisgerber (EPP, Germany) stressed that the EPP Group at the Parliament has always preferred incentives to bans. “The regulation provides additional incentives for particularly environmentally-friendly vehicles, such as hybrid or electric utility vehicles.” Thanks to these incentives, we will be able to speed up the penetration of these vehicles on the market, she said.
The NGO Transport & Environment, which was considerably less enthusiastic, states in a press release that the Parliament has approved “reduced” standards “under enormous pressure from vehicle manufacturers”: the Commission's initial proposal was for 135 g of CO2/km by 2020. The NGO criticises the fact that manufacturers spent 2010 stating that their sector was in crisis, even though, after the crisis of 2009, global sales of Volkswagen utility vehicles were back up to record sales levels last year.
For their part, manufacturers of light commercial vehicles believe that the bar has been set very high. “The goalposts are now set and the automobile industry will do its utmost to meet these targets. However, especially the long-term objectives will be challenging. They will require the market introduction of breakthrough technologies that are far away from being a viable business option”, said Ivan Hodac, secretary general of the ACEA. (A.N./transl.fl)