The European Union has agreed to limit CO2 emissions from trucks, with the aim of reducing them by 30 percent by 2030 according to an agreement reached on Tuesday between the European Parliament’s negotiators and the Council.
The European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) immediately expressed its “concerns” against the “very ambitious” aims which, in its view, ignore the lack of infrastructure needed to ensure the development of alternative technologies.
According to the terms of the agreement, which still needs to be voted on by the parliament in plenary session and passed by the 28 Member States, heavy goods vehicles will have to reduce their emissions by 15 percent by 2025 and by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, Karima Delli, President of the Parliament’s Transport Committee, said in a statement.
The objectives go slightly further than the initial proposal by the European Commission. The commissioner in charge, Miguel Arias Canete, welcomed these new provisions. “We are completing the [legislative] framework to reach the European target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030,” he said.
Until now, the EU has set reduction targets for light vehicles but never for heavy goods vehicles. These produce about a quarter of CO2 emissions from road transport (and 6% of total EU CO2 emissions).
“After twenty years of little progress in fuel efficiency, truck manufacturers now need to start offering low-emission, low-cost trucks to provide huge fuel savings for their customers.” the European freight industry,” said Stef Cornelis of the NGO Transport & Environment.
According to the estimates by the NGO, the new objectives will save 20,000 euros of fuel for a truck in the first five years, and from 2030, 60,000 euros over the next five years.
But for ACEA Secretary General Erik Jonnaert, “do not expect transport operators to suddenly start buying electric trucks or other alternative-powered trucks if there is no commercial argument in their favor and it is not possible to easily recharge vehicles on all major European motorways .
ACEA also expressed “great concern that many of the support measures that could help achieve the goals were deferred until at least 2025”.
