To help drivers choose new cars with low fuel consumption, EU countries are required to ensure that relevant information is provided to consumers, including a label showing a car's fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions.
The 'car labelling Directive' (Directive 1999/94/EC) aims to
As a demand-side policy, the directive is a complementary measure to help car manufacturers to meet their specific CO2 emission targets set under Regulation (EC) 443/2009 .
The directive requires:
Annexes to the directive set out minimum requirements that each of these items must meet.
A Commission recommendation published in May 2017 seeks to further improve car labelling by
In 2016 the Commission completed an evaluation of the car labelling Directive.
The evaluation concluded that the directive continues to be relevant, given the need to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport and to continue to raise consumer awareness on fuel use and CO2 emissions of new passenger cars.
Evidence shows awareness of the information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions has been improving steadily since the directive was implemented and is now medium-to-high (>75%) in many Member States.
However, the evaluation also showed that further clarification and simplification of the directive could increase its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence.
More information: