Car labelling

To help drivers choose new cars with low fuel consumption, EU countries are required to ensure that relevant information is provided to consumers, including a label showing a car's fuel efficiency and CO₂ emissions.

The 'car labelling Directive' (Directive 1999/94/EC) aims to:

• help consumers buy or lease cars which use less fuel and thereby emit less CO_2;
• encourage manufacturers to reduce the fuel consumption of new cars.

As a demand-side policy, this directive is a complementary measure to help car manufacturers meet their specific CO₂ emission targets set under Regulation (EU) 2019/631.

The directive requires:

• A label showing fuel economy and CO₂ emissions on all new cars or displayed nearby at the point of sale;
• A poster or display prominently showing the official fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions data of all new car models displayed or offered for sale or lease at point of sale;
• Producing a yearly guide on fuel economy and CO₂ emissions from new cars in consultation with manufacturers. The guide should be available free of charge at the point of sale and from a designated body within each Member State;
• All promotional literature contain the official fuel consumption and specific CO₂ emissions data for the passenger car model to which it refers.

Annexes to the directive set out minimum requirements that each of these items must meet.

A Commission recommendation published in May 2017 seeks to further improve car labelling by:

• supporting Member States to make full use of the new test procedure (WLTP) in a coordinated way to provide improved information to consumers;
• encouraging Member States to make air pollution related information available to consumers.

In 2016, the Commission completed an evaluation of the car labelling Directive.

The evaluation concluded that the directive continues to be relevant, given the need to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport and to continue to raise consumer awareness on fuel use and CO₂ emissions of new passenger cars.

Evidence shows awareness of the information on fuel economy and CO₂ emissions has been improving steadily since the directive was implemented in many Member States. 

However, the evaluation also showed that further clarification and simplification of the directive could increase its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence.

More information:

• Evaluation roadmap
• Public consultation to support the evaluation
• Results of the evaluation (Commission Staff Working document; Executive Summary)

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