Brussels announces new measures to reduce emissions in the EU

The European Commission proposed on Tuesday to cut by 90%, compared to 2019, the carbon emissions of heavy-duty trucks sold in the EU from 2040, while imposing from 2030 that all new urban buses put into service be " zero emissions"

Brussels announces new measures to reduce emissions in the EU

The European Commission proposed on Tuesday to cut by 90%, compared to 2019, the carbon emissions of heavy-duty trucks sold in the EU from 2040, while imposing from 2030 that all new urban buses put into service be " zero emissions". The proposed text, which will now be negotiated between European Union member states and MEPs, revises CO2 emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles as part of Europe's ambitious climate plan, which aims for carbon neutrality of the continent in 2050.

The EU has already endorsed the end in 2035 of the sale of new cars and vans with internal combustion engines. The agreement reached at the end of October between the Twenty-Seven and the European Parliament negotiators was formally adopted on Tuesday by MEPs meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg. "To achieve our climate and zero pollution goals, all parts of the transport sector must actively contribute", including heavy goods vehicles, so that by 2050 "virtually all vehicles on our roads will be zero emissions,” said Commission Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans. "Our climate law demands it, our cities demand it and our industrialists are preparing for it," he said.

Trucks, city buses and long-distance buses generate more than 6% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions and some 25% of road transport emissions. The proposal unveiled on Tuesday by the EU executive notably wants all new buses put into service in EU cities from 2030 to be "zero emissions".

"Manufacturers will be able to use the technologies of their choice to achieve these objectives, for example electrification, hydrogen fuel cells or hydrogen", specifies the Commission, while underlining that many agglomerations already plan to green their transport in common long before that date. Above all, the text proposes a timetable for reducing over time the emissions of trucks over 5 tonnes and long-distance buses (over 7.5 t), which have comparable engines, by tightening the standards from 2030 emissions imposed on new vehicles.

For those vehicles sold from January 2030, emissions must be reduced by at least 45% compared to 2019 levels. These emissions must then be reduced by 65% ​​from January 2035, and by 90% from January 2040 (still relative to 2019 levels). Derogations are provided for vehicles manufactured in small volumes for mining, forestry and agricultural purposes, for vehicles of the armed forces and fire departments, ambulances and medical vehicles, or even for garbage trucks.