Today the EU Environment Council gave the green light for new provisions on CO2 emissions in light commercial vehicles. The environment ministers supported the compromise which the Belgian EU Presidency negotiated with the European Parliament and the Commission. Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen welcomed the agreement. "Fuel-efficient light commercial vehicles are the way forward. The new provisions on CO2 reductions set clear targets for significantly lowering the fuel consumption of light commercial vehicles. This contributes to climate protection and creates incentives for new technologies. Users of such vehicles will also benefit, as they will save fuel and thus money," said Röttgen in Brussels.
By 2020, these vehicles must reduce their emissions by around 27 percent on average, to 147 grams CO2 per kilometre travelled (about 5.6 litres of diesel). Moreover, an interim target of 175 grams CO2 per kilometre (around 6.7 litres of diesel) has been set for 2017. This will be introduced gradually from 2014. As an incentive to comply with the targets, vehicle manufacturers will face severe fines if they exceed them.
Following up on the adoption of regulations on CO2 emission reductions in passenger cars in 2009, there are now comparable provisions for light commercial vehicles (minivans). These make up around 6 percent of CO2 emissions from road traffic.
The new Regulation also contains incentives for vehicles with particularly low CO2 emissions, such as plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. In addition, innovative technologies which bring further fuel savings - eco-innovations - are also being supported, for instance, LED lights or improved heat management for engines.