First EU legislation monitoring CO2 emissions from HDVs agreed

BRUSSELS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) on Monday evening reached the provisional agreement for monitoring and reporting the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from and fuel consumption data from new heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs).

The European Commission also expressed its welcome to this first-ever EU legislation focusing on the CO2 emissions from these vehicles in a statement on Tuesday.

The new regulations are part of the EU's Strategy on low-emission mobility and Communication on delivering on low-emission mobility and can help contribute to the bloc's climate objectives under the Paris Agreement.

According to the European Environment Agency, in 2015, road transport was responsible for almost 73 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Among these emissions, 18.8 percent were from HDVs.

According to the regulations, member states will monitor and report registration data concerning all new HDVs, and vehicle manufacturers will monitor and report information related to CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Apart from that, the Commission will make reported data publicly available, set up a system of administrative fines in case of vehicle manufacturers not reporting the data or reporting falsified data, and establish a system for monitoring and reporting the results of future on-road tests for the verification of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of HDVs.

The provisional agreement will now be presented to EU ambassadors for approval, according to the Council. Once approved, the text will be submitted to the Parliament for a vote and then to the Council for final adoption. Following approval, it will be published in the Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. Enditem