Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Presidency of the Council of the EU, assisted by the European Commission, made no progress on Tuesday 12 February in Strasbourg on the proposal for a regulation to establish, for the first time, performance standards for the reduction of CO2 emissions from the European fleet of heavy commercial vehicles and new buses.
This third trilogue focused on reduction targets and incentives for the sale of low-emission or zero-emission vehicles - the two major policy issues. Twelve hours of negotiations (from 3:00pm to 3:00am on Wednesday morning) were not enough to reach an agreement between the three institutions.
Everyone has stuck to their position. The mandate of the Romanian Presidency did not deviate from the general approach adopted by the Council (see EUROPE 12188).
For the reduction targets, the Council, supported by the Commission, hoped that the Parliament could align itself with its position (-30% in 2030), a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.
On the Parliament side, one source expressed the hope that, both on objectives and incentives, “the Council will show some more ambition during the fourth trilogue”.
It is already scheduled for Monday 18 February, "for a new attempt", at an hour yet to be set. In the meantime, the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU will be informed of this failure at their meeting on Friday, 15 February, and the Presidency could be given a new mandate on the same day. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)