On Thursday 14 December, Parliament and Council negotiators began talks on a recast of EU rules aimed at reducing road transport emissions for certain vehicles (Euro 7).
The various parties presented their positions on this new regulation proposed by the Commission in November 2022 (see EUROPE 13061/14), which aims in particular to modify the current limits on exhaust emissions and to reduce tyre and brake emissions.
Classification and emission requirements for light commercial vehicles.
The Parliament, which adopted its position on 9 November (see EUROPE 13289/11), proposed a three-category classification for light commercial vehicles, with stricter emission limits for buses and heavy goods vehicles.
On the other hand, the Council, which adopted its negotiating mandate on 26 September (see EUROPE 13257/1), is maintaining the test conditions and emission limits of the Euro 6 standard for passenger cars and light vans, suggesting minor adjustments for buses and heavy commercial vehicles in relation to this same standard.
Deadlines for compliance. The text, submitted by Alexandr Vondra (ECR, Czech), urges rapid finalisation of this secondary legislation, giving light vehicles 24 months and heavy vehicles 48 months to comply.
The report also proposes a specific deadline of 1 July 2031 for low-volume manufacturers of heavy vehicles.
The Council, for its part, has amended the dates of application of the regulation, postponing the application of the standards from 2025 and 2027 to 2030 for cars and 2031 for heavy vehicles.
Harmonisation of methodologies and emission limits. The parliamentarians want to harmonise the calculation methodologies and emission limits for braking particles and tyre abrasion with the international standards of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
For its part, the Council is also seeking to bring brake particle emission limits and tyre abrasion rates into line with these international standards, while taking account of the ‘zero CO2 emissions’ target for 2030 for urban buses.
The next interinstitutional meeting is scheduled for early next week, but no date has yet been set. According to a source close to the matter, this could be a short meeting that could lead to an agreement. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)