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Climate Action
News article31 May 2017Directorate-General for Climate Action

Europe on the Move: Commission takes action for clean, competitive and connected mobility

The European Commission is today taking action to modernise European mobility and transport. The aim is to help the sector to remain competitive in a socially fair transition towards clean energy and digitalisation.

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The European Commission is today taking action to modernise European mobility and transport. The aim is to help the sector to remain competitive in a socially fair transition towards clean energy and digitalisation.

'Europe on the Move' is a wide-ranging set of initiatives that will make traffic safer, encourage fairer road charging, reduce CO2 emissions, air pollution and congestion, cut red-tape for businesses, fight illicit employment and ensure proper conditions and rest times for workers. The long-term benefits will extend far beyond the transport sector by promoting jobs, growth and investment, strengthening social fairness, widening consumers’ choices and firmly putting Europe on the path towards low emissions.

The long-term strategy adopted today is accompanied by a first series of 8 legislative initiatives specifically targeting road transport, a sector which contributes to almost a fifth of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions and directly employs 5 million Europeans.

Among the initiatives is a proposal on monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from heavy-duty vehicles. From 1 January 2019, manufacturers of new lorries will have to calculate their CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. With the new proposal, the Commission will collect these data and make them public. This will increase transparency and close the current knowledge gap on vehicles' performance. This proposal is the first ever EU legislation specifically addressing CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. It is a prerequisite for further legislation on CO2 emission standards, to be proposed in 2018.

Also adopted today is a Commission Recommendation to ensure European consumers are better informed when buying a new car. The Commission recommends that Member States make full use of a new test procedure, the so-called World Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), which will be gradually introduced from this year. The Recommendation is aimed at ensuring EU consumers get more accurate information on fuel consumption and emissions of new cars. Member States are also encouraged to make information on air pollution available to consumers.

The Commission has also today published two reports on the REFIT evaluation and implementation of the Fuel Quality Directive. The reports conclude that the Fuel Quality Directive is generally fit for purpose and should remain in place. However, monitoring of the development of the internal market for transport fuels should continue.

The initial proposals put forward today will be complemented by other proposals over the next 12 months, including on post-2020 emissions standards for cars and vans and the first ever CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

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Publication date
31 May 2017
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action