Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedThe European Commission’s proposal to revise and strengthen CO2 emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) is one of the pillars of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. This new regulation is crucial if we want to achieve our goal to reach climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest, reduce air pollution and protect Europeans’ health, and innovate to keep European industry at the top of the HDV market while reducing operational transport costs.

RemovedThe rapporteur would like to highlight the following:

Removed1/ Combating climate change, reducing air pollution and improving the health of our citizens

RemovedThe climate emergency is irrefutable. Its consequences – droughts, heatwaves, fires, floods – are already dramatically affecting Europe and the rest of the world. The IPCC just recently recalled that if we fail to take immediate and ambitious action to tackle climate change, the survival of humanity itself will be at risk. The European Union is committed to achieving climate neutrality as quickly as possible and by 2050 at the latest. No sector, and certainly not the transport sector with the ever-increasing emissions it produces, can escape this imperative collective responsibility.

RemovedAlthough HDVs (i.e. road vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes and carrying goods or passengers) account for only 2 % of vehicles on the EU’s roads, they are responsible for 28 % of greenhouse gas emissions produced by road transport, representing more than 6 % of the EU’s total emissions. That’s more than air transport produces!

RemovedIt is clear that the EU will have to promote strategies to reduce the distances covered by goods and accelerate the modal shift towards trains and rail freight. But given that the average lifespan of a lorry is 18 years, and that road transport is expected to continue to expand, it is vital that all new HDVs put on the market be zero-emission by 2040 at the latest, and that the CO2 targets for 2030 and 2035 be strengthened to keep on track our emission reduction goals. Otherwise, other sectors and European citizens will have to bear the brunt of the painful and sometimes impossible extra efforts that will need to be made.

RemovedRoad transport not only contributes to climate change but pollutes the air and damages our health. According to the European Environment Agency, 97 % of the European urban population is exposed to concentrations of fine particles above WHO recommendations. Each year in the EU, around 275 000 premature deaths are caused by fine particulate matter and 64 000 by nitrogen dioxide (EEA, 2022). This also explains why all buses placed on the market will need to be zero-emission by 2030 at the latest.

RemovedThe Commission’s impact assessment shows that a 100 % reduction target for all new HDVs placed on the market by 2040 is not only crucial and good for the climate and minimising air pollution but is technologically and industrially feasible.

RemovedThe study also shows that it would reduce the cost of using these lorries for hauliers, with a gain of more than EUR 45 000 per lorry per year by 2040. A target to reduce emissions by 100 % by 2040 would also create more jobs in Europe in the medium and long term, compared to less ambitious targets.

Removed2/ Innovating and strengthening a competitive and job-creating industry

RemovedThe European HDV industry is a leader in the European and North American markets. This favourable position is threatened by China’s offer when it comes to electric lorries and buses. Above all, a growing number of cities and countries are accelerating the transition to zero-emission HDVs. In Europe, cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Sofia, Riga, Stockholm, Dublin, Brussels and Tallinn have committed to electrifying all their bus fleets. Ten EU countries have already committed to 100 % zero-emission vehicle sales by 2040 (AT, BE, HR, DK, FI, IE, LT, LU, NL and PT) by signing the global memorandum launched during COP26 with around fifteen other countries (including the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Türkiye, Canada and the USA). California without a doubt sets the best example: the state, which has one of the largest economies across the globe, has just recently approved the world’s most ambitious regulations, requiring 100 % of new HDVs to be zero-emission by 2036.

RemovedThis momentum will boost the zero-emission vehicle market and European groups present in the United States will be forced to speed up the transition to electric and hydrogen-fuelled new HDVs.

RemovedThe European Union must not lag behind. The technologies already exist. The main manufacturers have committed to decarbonising their fleets by 2040 and have higher targets for 2030 and 2035 than those proposed by the Commission.

RemovedWe have seen above that the European Commission’s proposals do not meet the environmental objectives we set ourselves and are even a step back from the impact assessment. Moreover, they appear to be less ambitious than what the market has planned. Our report therefore proposes technologically and industrially realistic targets to protect the climate, reduce the operational costs of road transport and strengthen European manufacturers’ position as market leaders.

Removed3/ Establishing a clear legal framework for 100 % zero-emission road transport

RemovedEuropean industry has already made many commitments and begun the zero-emission transition. Overall, it is ready to make the necessary efforts and investments. However, it absolutely needs a clear and stable legal framework, with precise short-, medium- and long-term objectives free of ambiguities regarding zero-emission technologies or the final outcome – all new buses on the European market will be zero emission by 2030, and all new lorries by 2040.

RemovedWe also want to ensure we have an ecosystem conducive to the decarbonisation of the sector.

RemovedMore than one in four buses sold are already electric. To achieve the target of 100 % zero-emission buses on the market by 2030, the report proposes to strengthen the security of supply criteria in public procurement by adding sustainability criteria and thus promote high-quality buses and favour electric buses made in Europe. By increasing the concentration of the European bus supply, we also reduce production and purchase costs for local authorities.

RemovedMany EU funding opportunities are available to accompany the transition of the sector, such as the Cohesion Fund, the remaining Recovery and Resilience Facility allocations, or the new Social Climate Fund. And we can only encourage Member States to invest even more in zero-emission collective transport, and communities to join forces to make joint purchases.

RemovedFor the sake of consistency and to ensure greater certainty for stakeholders in the sector, the report seeks to extend the CO2 targets to professional vehicles and small lorries below 5 tonnes, so as not to leave 20 % of lorry sales outside CO2 reduction obligations. Similarly, the report encourages retrofitting.

RemovedHowever, while the transition to zero-emission vehicles needs to be initiated now, a limited number of vehicle types – such as certain tractors used in the agricultural or forestry sector or vehicles for critical security and safety uses, which are more difficult to replace with zero-emission vehicles at this stage – will continue to be exempt. This exemption will have to be reassessed during the revision planned for 2028, in particular in view of Europe’s objective to reach climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest.

RemovedFinally, we need to come back to a strict and clear definition of exactly what a zero-emission vehicle is, so as not to jeopardise technological progress and so as to reward those who comply with their commitments.

Removed4/ ‘Zero-Emission HDV’ forum to ensure the availability of charging infrastructure

RemovedThe transition to zero emissions must be accompanied by the establishment of an efficient and sufficiently dense charging network. However, we need to bear in mind that in 2030, even with a very ambitious CO2 target, less than 10 % of lorries will be electric and hydrogen powered.

RemovedWe do, nonetheless, take heed of manufacturers’ concerns about the need to quickly set up this recharging and refuelling network. The report therefore proposes that, as soon as the regulation enters into force, the European Commission set up a ‘Zero-Emission HDV’ forum, bringing together manufacturers, public charging point operators, electricity operators, carriers, logistics operators, public transport operators, civil society and the Member States. The forum will allow for consultation to ensure that charging infrastructure is available and accessible at an affordable cost. It will also provide for a constructive dialogue with a view to the revision of the AFIR Regulation in 2026, to align the AFIR’s goals with the new CO2 emission reduction standards for HDVs.

RemovedParliament bears a huge responsibility in setting the CO2 rules for lorries: it must demonstrate that the fight against climate change and air pollution is a lever for innovation and the assertion of European industry as the market leader. While China and the United States have embarked on an industrial battle, the European Union cannot stop halfway in this zero-emission revolution that is already under way.