Updating Euro emission standards (Euro 7)

Briefing 31-03-2023

The Commission mobilised considerable time and resources to prepare this initiative, in an extensive 'back to back' (ex post evaluation and ex ante impact assessment) process that started in 2018 with the set-up of the Advisory Group on Vehicle Emission Standards. The IA draws on numerous external studies, stakeholder consultations, relevant data sources and approved modelling tools (SYBIL and COPERT). In spite of some weaknesses in the definition of the problems and objectives, the intervention logic of the IA is clear. The options are built on modules, whose highly technical details could have been presented in a more coherent and clear manner to increase accessibility for non-expert policy makers. In the same vein, the complex comparison of the options' impacts could have better illustrated all factors that have to be counted in (vehicle types and sizes, testing conditions, durability requirements etc.), to make the selection of the preferred option more convincing. This seems important given that for all options gradual positive effects on emission reduction are expected, and given that the proposal diverts partially (for cars and vans) from the preferred option of the IA: For LDVs, it combines tailpipe emission limits of option 1 with the other provisions of option 3a, to take into account the increased challenges the EU automotive industry faces in the geopolitical and economic context since 2021/2022 and in the midst of the EU's ongoing green transformation.