The European Council discussed the proposed CO2 emission standards for light commercial vehicles. The agreed text introduces a limit of 175 g CO2/km for the average CO2 emissions from new vehicles registered in the EU. This target will apply to a small van of average mass while specific targets for individual vehicles would vary according to their weight. The limits will be phased in between 2014 and 2017.
In order to give planning certainty to industry, a long-term target of 147 g CO2/km for light commercial vehicles in 2020 has been included. The modalities for reaching the target are to be stablished in a revision of the regulation by January 2013.
To incentivize investment in new technologies, from 2014 producers have to pay a penalty if their fleet fails to meet the CO2 limit. As in the legislation for cars, the premium depends on how far manufacturers exceeded the target. A maximum penalty of EUR 95 per vehicle for exceeding the target has been agreed.
Proposed in November 2009, the draft regulation (15317/09) complements EU rules on CO2 emissions limits for new passenger cars (443/2009). The agreed text will be confirmed by the European Parliament at an upcoming plenary session and adopted formally by the Council after legal-linguistic revision.
