CO2 Emissions of Heavy-duty Vehicles: Council Adopts Monitoring and Reporting Rules

The Council today adopted a regulation on monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions as well as fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles. This regulation forms part of the EU's overall efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and it is a step towards a competitive low carbon economy.

The new rules enable transport companies, of which many are small and medium-sized enterprises, to obtain access to standardised information on fuel consumption and to compare different models of lorries, trucks and buses. This will allow them to make well-informed purchasing decisions, and thereby reduce their fuel bills which account for more than a quarter of their operating costs. The increased transparency will encourage manufacturers to develop more energy efficient heavy-duty vehicles. Higher fuel efficiency also means lower overall CO2 emissions, benefiting the environment.

"I am very pleased that environment ministers have given their approval to this new legislation today. For the first time, we are putting in place standard rules to monitor the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from heavy duty vehicles. Creating competitive environment for efficient vehicles will benefit not only the transport operators, but all citizens through reduced costs and cleaner air."

Neno Dimov, Minister for Environment and Water of Bulgaria

The new system of monitoring and reporting provides the basis for the legislative proposal on setting and enforcing standards on CO2 emissions and fuel consumption for heavy-duty vehicles, which the Commission presents to ministers later today at the Environment Council.