The fourth try was the charm. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council, assisted by the Commission, reached a provisional agreement overnight from Monday to Tuesday 19 February on the proposal for a Regulation which, for the first time, will impose performance standards for the reduction of CO2 emissions from the European fleet of new heavy-duty commercial vehicles and buses, and will encourage the sale of low-emission or zero emission vehicles (see EUROPE 12193).
This draft legislation was presented in May 2018 as part of the third clean mobility package (see EUROPE 12022) to complement the existing regulations on passenger cars and vans, and to involve a sector that contributes 27% of CO2 emissions from road transport and 5% of EU emissions in the fight against climate change.
On the most difficult issue to resolve - reduction targets - the agreement provides for an average reduction in CO2 emissions of 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 compared to 2019 - two binding targets. The Council, supported by the Commission, did not accommodate the European Parliament, which wanted more ambition. A review clause is foreseen in 2022 for the Commission to propose new post-2030 targets, in line with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.
If the targets are exceeded, a fine would be imposed on the manufacturers: € 4,250 per gramme of CO2 per tonne/km for the period 2025-2029 (the Council wanted € 4,000, Parliament € 5,000) and € 6,800 after 2030. Flexibilities would allow manufacturers to carry over part of the emissions from one year to the next.
As regards incentives for clean vehicles, the super-credit system proposed by the Commission would apply until the end of 2024.
From 2025 onwards, a benchmark rate of 2% would be introduced for the mandatory share of zero and low-emission vehicles in total sales per manufacturer, as requested by Parliament, to encourage manufacturers to invest in more environmentally friendly alternatives to diesel trucks. Buses and coaches would be excluded from this incentive scheme since they are already being encouraged by other measures.
"Today's agreement closes a gap in European environmental legislation. It ensures that the heavy-duty vehicle sector starts contributing its share to our climate goals", said Leocadia Gavrilescu, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and current President of the EU Environment Council, in a statement.
Stressing that "this regulation will help to improve air quality", Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA), rapporteur for this dossier, considers it "shameful that some governments put the interests of industry before the interests of the people [...] in particular Germany and some Central European Member States [that have] blocked more ambitious targets". According to him, cleaner engines than combustion engines are good for the climate and the creation of sustainable jobs.
According to the European Commissioner for Climate and Energy Action, Miguel Arias Cañete, this agreement is "ambitious and balanced". Once adopted, this regulation will make it possible to "complete the regulatory framework to achieve the European objective of reducing the EU's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030", he recalled.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has expressed its "particular concern" about the reduction targets, which it considers "very ambitious", given the lack of adequate charging infrastructure or stations for electric trucks or alternative fuels "which will have to be sold en masse if the targets are to be met". Its Secretary General, Erik Jonnaert, "calls on Member States to urgently increase their efforts to deploy the required infrastructure". He also notes that the introduction of a mandatory quota system (benchmark) "completely ignores demand", forcing manufacturers to produce zero emission trucks without any guarantee that they will be purchased.
The provisional agreement will be submitted for approval to the ambassadors of the Twenty-eight as early as Friday 22 February and to the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment, Wednesday 27 February, before the final approval expected from Parliament and the Council. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)