On 26 June, 2023, the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety discussed the draft report on strengthening the CO₂ emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and integrating reporting obligations. During the meeting, DG CLIMA of the European Commission commented on the proposal and expressed their views on the draft report.
They underlined that there are divergent and opposing positions in the EP. From the Commission’s perspective, the proposal is ambitious and realistic. The targets are in line with the announcements of major players in the industry . The first objective is to tackle the climate issue and try to achieve it by 2050 and reduce the emissions by 100%. The Commission is also aware of the challenges that the energy issue may cause, as trucks mainly run on diesel. The targets need to be ambitious to give a long-term signal on the investment on new technologies to reach climate neutrality. It is not only a signal for the producers of these vehicles but also to those producing the infrastructures, like charging, that surround them. On climate neutrality and fuels, the Commission’s position is confirmed on the draft report providing clear responsibilities for specific actors and avoiding mixing them.
Overall, the Commission is happy to see that the broad structure of the proposal is reflected in the report and they hope that this proposal is achieved in this legislative term.
The deadline to table amendments is 4 July, 2023. The voting in the ENVI committee is foreseen by the end of October.