The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Thomas ULMER (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 to define the modalities for reaching the 2020 target to reduce CO2 emissions from new passenger cars.
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, in exercising its prerogatives as an associated committee in accordance with Article 50 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, was also consulted for an opinion on this report.
The parliamentary committee recommends that the position adopted by the European Parliament at first reading according to the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission’s proposal as follows:
Emission targets: Members want the Regulation to set the target for 2025 within an indicative range of 68g CO2/km to 78g CO2/km as average emissions for the new car fleet.
Producers responsible annually for fewer than 1000 new passenger cars are excluded from the scope of the specific emissions target and the excess emissions premium.
New world test procedure: with a view to bringing the specific CO2 emissions quoted for new passenger cars more closely into line with the emissions actually generated during normal conditions of use, the Commission should seek to ensure that the new international light-duty vehicle test procedure (World Light-Duty Test Cycle – WLTC/P) is finalised as soon as possible, so that it may be adopted at Union level by the end of 2014 and introduced in January 2017.
Monitoring and reporting of average emissions: where as a result of the verification of the conformity of production, a Member State establishes that the CO2 emissions for a production vehicle deviate by more than 4% from the approved type, that deviation shall be reported to the Commission.
The Commission should monitor real reported CO2 emission values by vehicle type and manufacturer on the basis of the best available sources of information and publish in its annual monitoring reports how those values compare with type approval values.
Eco-innovation: manufacturers of new cars and their suppliers should be encouraged to certify and incorporate technologies or technology packages (eco-innovations) which further reduce fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions directly associated with it. Such technologies shall be taken into consideration only if the methodology used to assess them is capable of producing verifiable, repeatable and comparable results.
Once a year, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on innovative technologies and innovative technology packages which have been approved or rejected. The Commission shall, by 31 December 2013, complete a review of the provisions relating to eco-innovations.
Checks: Members consider it to be essential that the vehicle on which conformity of production is being verified have a coast down test performed on it to establish its aerodynamic and rolling resistance and provide the values to be used for the dynamometer test which forms part of the conformity of production test.
With a view to ensuring that real world emissions are adequately reflected and measured CO2 values are strictly comparable, the Commission should ensure that those elements in the testing procedure that have a significant influence on measured CO2 emissions are strictly defined.
Utility parameter: an amendment stipulates that a manufacturer should apply the same utility parameter (mass or footprint) for the whole of its car fleet. Once a manufacturer has chosen to use footprint as the utility parameter for establishing compliance with its specific emissions target, it may not revert to the use of mass in the subsequent years.
Members also underline the need to collect information regarding the maximum net power (kW) and engine capacity (cm3) as these are both important parameters relating to vehicle CO2.
Review: as it is not yet possible to tell what alternative propulsion concepts consumers will accept, Members propose that the regulatory régime for the post-2020 period should be reviewed by 1 January 2017 (and not by 31 December 2014, as proposed by the Commission).