CO₂ emission performance standards for cars and vans (2020 onwards)

Policy

Passenger cars and vans ('light commercial vehicles') are responsible for around 12% and 2.5%, respectively, of total EU emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), the main greenhouse gas.

Since 2009, EU legislation has set mandatory eamission targets for new cars and, since 2011, for new vans.

On 17 April 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2019/631 setting CO₂ emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new vans in the EU. This Regulation started applying on 1 January 2020, replacing and repealing Regulations (EC) 443/2009 (cars) and (EU) 510/2011 (vans).

To achieve a climate-neutral EU by 2050 and the intermediate target of an at least 55% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, the Commission is proposing to revise the Regulation. The Commission has published an inception impact assessment and launched an open public consultation on the revision.

The current Regulation includes targets for 2020, as well as targets that apply from 2025 and 2030.

The Regulation also includes a mechanism to incentivise the uptake of zero- and low-emission vehicles, in a technology-neutral way.

Benefits

The new Regulation will:

contribute to the achievement of the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement,
reduce fuel consumption costs for consumers,
strengthen the competitiveness of EU automotive industry and stimulate employment.

Expected benefits include

a 23% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from road transport in 2030 compared to 2005. This will support Member States in meeting their national targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation;
savings for consumers of around €1,100 over the lifetime of an average new car bought in 2030 and nearly €4,000 for an average new van;
positive impacts on employment across the overall economy, with around 60,000 jobs created by 2030 and up to 80,000 if batteries are produced in the EU;
a smooth and gradual transition towards zero-emission mobility allowing for sufficient time to provide for an adequate reskilling and reallocation of workers in the automotive sector;
a signal for investors in refuelling and recharging infrastructure, which will ensure that the enabling conditions for deploying zero- and low-emission vehicles are fulfilled.

Main elements

Target levels

Regulation (EU) 2019/631 sets new EU fleet-wide CO₂ emission targets are set for the years 2025 and 2030, both for newly registered passenger cars and for newly registered vans.

These targets are defined as a percentage reduction from the 2021 starting points:

Cars: 15% reduction from 2025 on and 37.5% reduction from 2030 on
Vans: 15% reduction from 2025 on and 31% reduction from 2030 on

The specific emission targets for manufacturers to comply with, are based on the EU fleet-wide targets, taking into account the average test mass of a manufacturer's newly registered vehicles.

Incentive mechanism for zero- and low-emission vehicles (ZLEV)

A ZLEV is defined in the Regulation as a passenger car or a van with CO₂ emissions between 0 and 50 g/km.

To incentivise the uptake of ZLEV, a crediting system is introduced from 2025 on.

The specific CO₂ emission target of a manufacturer will be relaxed if its share of ZLEV registered in a given year exceeds the following benchmarks:

Cars: 15% ZLEV from 2025 on and 35% ZLEV from 2030 on
Vans: 15% ZLEV from 2025 on and 30% ZLEV from 2030 on

A one percentage point exceedance of the ZLEV benchmark will increase the manufacturer’s CO₂ target (in g CO₂/km) by one percent. The target relaxation is capped at maximum 5% to safeguard the environmental integrity of the Regulation.

For calculating the ZLEV share in a manufacturer’s fleet, an accounting rule applies. This gives a greater weight to ZLEV with lower CO₂ emissions.

In addition, for cars only, during the period 2025 to 2030, a greater weight is given to ZLEV registered in Member States with a low ZLEV uptake in 2017, and this as long as the ZLEV share in the Member State’s fleet of newly registered cars does not exceed 5%.

Pooling, exemptions and derogations

The provisions on pooling between manufacturers are the same as under the previous Regulations. Pooling between car and van manufacturers is not possible.

The exemption of manufacturers registering less than 1,000 cars or vans per year, as well as the derogation possibility for “small volume” car and van manufacturers, have also been maintained.

The derogation possibility for “niche” car manufacturers, i.e. those registering between 10,000 and 300,000 cars per year, will end after the year 2028. In the years 2025 to 2028, the derogation target for those manufacturers will be 15% below the 2021 derogation target.

Eco-innovations

The provisions regarding the “eco-innovation” credits for emission savings due to the application of innovative emission reduction technologies not covered by the standard test cycle CO₂ measurement are largely unchanged compared to the previous Regulations.

New is that the efficiency improvements for air conditioning systems will become eligible as eco-innovation technologies as of 2025 and that the cap of 7 g/km may be adjusted by the Commission through a delegated act.

Governance

Two new elements have been introduced to reinforce the effectiveness of the Regulation.

These concern

the verification of CO₂ emissions of vehicles in-service and
measures to ensure that the emission test procedure yields results which are representative of real-world emissions.

In-service verification

Manufacturers are required to ensure correspondence between the CO₂ emissions recorded in the certificates of conformity of their vehicles and the CO₂ emissions of vehicles in-service measured according to the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP).

This correspondence shall be verified by type-approval authorities in selected vehicles. The authorities shall also verify the presence of any strategies artificially improving the vehicle’s performance in the type-approval tests.

On the basis of their findings, type-approval authorities shall, where needed, ensure the correction of the certificates of conformity and may take other necessary measures set out in the Type Approval Framework Regulation.

Deviations found in the CO₂ emissions of vehicles in service shall be reported to the Commission, who shall take them into account for the purpose of calculating the average specific emissions of a manufacturer.

Real-world emissions

To prevent the gap between emissions tested in the laboratory and real-world emissions from increasing, the Commission shall, from 2021 on, regularly collect data on the real-world CO₂ emissions and energy consumption of cars and vans using the on-board fuel consumption monitoring devices (OBFCM).

The Commission shall monitor how that gap evolves between 2021 and 2026 and, on that basis, assess the feasibility of a mechanism to adjust the manufacturer’s average specific CO₂ emissions as of 2030.

The detailed procedures for collecting and processing the data shall be adopted by means of implementing acts.

Life-cycle emissions

By 2023, the Commission shall evaluate the possibility of developing a common methodology for the assessment and reporting of the full life-cycle CO₂ emissions of cars and vans.

Review

The Commission shall review the effectiveness of the Regulation and report on this to the European Parliament and the Council.

This review shall cover i.a. the following:

real world representativeness of the CO₂ emission and energy consumption values,
deployment of ZLEV,
roll-out of recharging and refuelling infrastructure,
role of synthetic and advanced alternative fuels produced with renewable energy,
emission reductions observed for the existing fleet,
ZLEV incentive mechanism,
impacts for consumers,
aspects related to the just transition,
impacts for consumers, aspects related to the just transition,
2030 targets and identification of a pathway for emission reductions beyond 2030.

As part of the review, the Commission shall assess the feasibility of developing real-world emission test procedures, as well as the possibility to assign revenues from the fines to a specific fund or relevant programme with the objective to ensure a just transition towards a climate neutral economy.

Finally, the Commission shall review the Car Labelling Directive by end 2020, covering both CO₂ and air pollutant emissions of cars and evaluating the options for introducing a fuel economy and CO₂ emissions label for vans.

Documentation

Regulation (EU) 2019/631

OJEU 25/04/2019 - Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 setting CO₂ emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011)

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/22

31/10/2019 - Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/22 amending Annexes I and III to Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the monitoring of CO₂ emissions from new light commercial vehicles type-approved in a multi-stage process

Brexit preparedness notice

18/12/2020 - Automotive CO₂ emissions

Commission proposal - Key documents

Links to related EU policies

European Commission priorities: The European Green Deal
DG Mobility and Transport: Europe on the Move (Mobility Packages 2017-2018)
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs: Industrial Policy and Automotive Emissions

Studies

Studies supporting implementation work

10/2019 - Preparation for collection and monitoring of real-world fuel consumption data for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles