Just as the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU is beginning, negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council, assisted by the Commission, were launched on Tuesday 8 January in Brussels on the draft regulation of last May, which will establish performance standards for the reduction of CO2 emissions from the European fleet of new heavy vehicles for the first time.
On 20 December, the Council released a political agreement on this important issue for climate, clean mobility and European innovation (see EUROPE 12164).
As usual, Parliament negotiators, led by Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) and the President of the Council have just presented their respective positions. This first trilogue took place “in a good atmosphere”, according to a diplomatic source.
Negotiators recognized the need for several technical meetings to make as much progress as possible, leaving aside the more political issues. The second trilogue is scheduled for 22 January. “The objective is to finalize the negotiations in February, if possible”, according to this source.
On political issues such as reduction targets (the Council wants 15% in 2025 compared to 2019 and 30% in 2030, the Parliament 20% in 2025 and 35% in 2030, see EUROPE 12137), the Commission is more in line with the Council, considering that it is not realistic to go beyond a 15% reduction in 2025 given that the production cycle is now beginning for vehicles that will be on sale in 2025. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)