At a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 8 June, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU presented a progress report on the state of play of work on the regulation on greening company vehicle fleets.
The proposal, an integral part of the automotive package, is intended to increase the number of zero-emission or low-emission light commercial vehicles in new registrations of company vehicles in the EU. It also sets out a method for calculating compliance with these targets.
Overall, Member States have broadly supported the objective of decarbonising company fleets, but a number of them expressed concerns about certain issues provided for in the proposal, notably its binding targets.
During the discussions, German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder made clear his disagreement with the Euroepan Commission’s proposed regulation. “It is not only the targets that are problematic, but also Article 4 of the regulation, which risks limiting our room for manoeuvre in fiscal terms”, he warned. Several Member States expressed concerns about the scope of the text, which they believe could go beyond the competences conferred on the European Union.
As Agence Europe reported ahead of the EU Council meeting (see EUROPE 13882/11), several capitals, including Berlin, could join the call by nine countries to put in place incentive measures rather than binding targets (see EUROPE 13869/3). If that were the case, a blocking minority could form.
The ministers also stressed the importance of ensuring that the text is consistent with the rest of the measures in the automotive package. Moreover, Member States called for technological neutrality to be maintained and for account to be taken of differences between national situations, particularly as regards the availability of charging infrastructure.
To consult the report: https://aeur.eu/f/m9d (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)