New CO2 limits in the EU: trucks must become cleaner

The European Parliament decides on stricter CO2 rules for trucks and buses – despite the FDP’s blockade. The new limit values ​​are intended to help the climate.

In the future, diesel or gasoline will rarely be allowed in new cars here: the tank of a truck Photo: Thomas Banneyer/dpa

BERLIN taz | Newly sold trucks and buses in the European Union will in future have to emit significantly less carbon dioxide (CO₂) than previously permitted. The European Parliament has done this with a new regulation for CO₂-Limit values ​​for so-called heavy commercial vehicles decided. According to rules adopted on Wednesday, new trucks, buses and trailers that weigh more than 7.5 tons and are sold in 2040 must be virtually emission-free.

An “important decision,” said Kim Kohlmeyer, head of the truck division at the Transport & Environment (T&E) organization: trucks and buses are responsible for 27 percent of emissions in European road traffic, even though they only make up 2 percent of the vehicle population. The regulation therefore “paves the way for more climate protection for one of Europe’s largest polluters,” said Kohlmeyer.

The new EU rules require manufacturers to report the average CO₂– Reduce emissions from your newly sold heavy commercial vehicles in stages – by 15 percent by 2025 compared to 2019. By 2040, new trucks and buses should be almost completely emission-free and produce 90 percent less CO₂ expel. In urban areas, new buses will no longer be allowed to be combustion engines from 2030; they must be powered by electricity or hydrogen.

Although the Council, Commission and Parliament of the EU had already agreed on a compromise in the “Trilogue”, the MEPs’ approval faltered shortly before the end. Conservatives and liberals again requested changes on Wednesday. “The conservatives and the FDP have already received a number of concessions,” commented transport politician Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, who sits for the Greens in the European Parliament. At the request of the German liberals, the compromise is now that the EU Commission should draw up rules for new trucks powered by e-fuels.

E-fuels lead “to a dead end”

When parliament finally voted on Wednesday, the FDP rejected the compromise despite this perspective on e-fuels. “We wanted to rely on alternative fuels regionally,” explained Jan-Christoph Oetjen, FDP transport politician and Vice President of the EU Parliament, when asked by taz. “Unfortunately, our proposal did not find a majority.”

In Wednesday’s vote, the French Liberals withheld support from their German parliamentary group colleagues and the Conservatives. They approved the regulation in its current version, thereby helping the European Greens, Social Democrats and Left to gain a majority.

According to T&E’s Kohlmeyer, a focus on biofuels and e-fuels “leads to a dead end because they are not competitive in terms of efficiency and costs.”

The EU decision is important for the industry. Traton, Volkswagen’s commercial vehicle division, wants to focus on battery-electric solutions as it transitions to zero-emission vehicles. That’s what the new CO played for₂-Standards for trucks and buses “play an important role,” a Traton spokesman told the taz. However, they also presented manufacturers with “major economic challenges”.

After the vote in the EU Parliament, Traton therefore called for further support for European politics – for example through higher prices for fossil fuels and a rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure. Traton boss Christian Levin recently warned that Chinese e-bus providers were well positioned – and were competing with European manufacturers.