European Parliament approves law mandating truck CO2 emissions are slashed by 30%

The European Parliament has approved the first ever EU regulation governing CO2 emissions for trucks, which will force manufacturers to slash emissions by nearly a third no later than 2030.

The text of the new legislation, which was informally agreed between MEPs in February, will now go before the European Council (EC) with ratification expected next month.

It means that CO2 emissions from new trucks will need to be cut by 30% by 2030, with an intermediate reduction target of 15% by 2025. This is based on a baseline of 2019/20 truck emission levels.

The new law has already left major truck manufacturers fuming with The European Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association having described the mandatory reduction as “highly ambitious”.

However, lobby group Transport and the Environment (T&E) welcomed the move.

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Stef Cornelis, cleaner trucks manager at T&E, said: “This law is a pivotal moment for the truck industry in Europe.

“After 20 years of very little progress in fuel efficiency, and the biggest cartel fines in the industry history, truckmakers have to cut emissions by almost a third over a decade and start supplying zero emission trucks.

"But this is just the beginning and the rules will need to be made a lot more ambitious when they are reviewed in 2022.”

T&E has claimed the new law will slash hauliers’ fuel bills in the longer term as electric trucks can be cheaper to run than diesel equivalents. It has also argued that the hard deadline will force innovation in a sector were the heavy end of the HGV market is presently poorly served with alternatives to conventional power.

Following today's 18 April) vote Bas Eickhout, rapporteur, at the European Parliament, said: “It is a great success that the EU is taking action for the first time on CO2 emissions from heavy duty vehicles. The regulation will help to reduce pollution on our roads and to improve air quality.

“The future of cleaner trucks will be driven by innovation. This legislation should therefore encourage the industry to spur on change and advances in technology.”

The EU currently has a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport to around 20% below their 2008 level by 2030, which this new law is intended to support.

In addition, the EC will have to propose new post-2030 targets, in 2022, in line with the Paris Agreement.