Europaudvalget 2020-21
EUU Alm.del Bilag 340
Offentligt
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The Danish Government’s response to the public consultation on the
revision
of the Regulation setting CO
2
Emissions Performance Standards for new pas-
senger cars and new light commercial vehicles
Denmark strongly welcomes the European
Commission’s
plan to present a pro-
posal for a revision of the Regulation setting CO
2
Emissions Performance Stand-
ards for cars and vans.
The transport sector accounts for almost a quarter of all EU greenhouse gas emis-
sions, and road transport alone is responsible for a fifth of the emissions in the EU.
Taking into account that transport is the only economic sector whose greenhouse
gas emissions is still increasing, ambitious and swift action is needed to spur the
transition necessary to
reach the EU’s
increased 2030 target and climate neutrality
by 2050. In addition, the sector is the main cause of air pollution in our cities.
As the average lifespan of light duty vehicles is approximately 15 years, the CO
2
emissions standards for cars and vans
will affect the development of the EU’s
transport sector until at least 2045. Consequently, it will be crucial to adopt legisla-
tion that
is fully in line with the EU’s climate objectives and provides certainty for
manufactures, investors, consumers, and citizens by clearly signaling the transition
towards zero-emission road transport.
Denmark therefore encourages the European Commission to present a concrete
plan with proposals for policy initiatives and incentives for the transition to zero-
emission vehicles. An ambitious and cost-effective framework with coherent poli-
cies and regulation is needed to support an accelerated and balanced shift towards
zero-emission vehicles as well as to create predictability for the industry. In this re-
gard, Denmark also welcome
the Commission’s
announcement that the Commis-
sion in the coming months will assess at what point in time the availability of cars
with internal combustion engines should cease to be available on the market. In or-
der to facilitate the necessary and timely transition of the road transport sector to-
wards zero-emissions mobility, the phase out of the sale of new petrol and diesel
cars should be scheduled for 2030 at the latest.
It will be key that the EU does not impede the green transition
but facilitates it.
Thus, Member States must be allowed to take the lead and take steps at national
level to prohibit the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
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EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 340: Notat og høringssvar om Kommissionens offentlige høringer vedr. revision af EU’s kvotehandelsdirektiv, byrdefordelingsforordning, LULUCF-forordningen og forordningen om CO2-standarder for lette køretøjer
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To ensure the necessary transition over the coming years, the EU must overcome
the obstacles to the transition towards zero-emission road transport and the uptake
of zero-emission passenger cars and vans needs to accelerate significantly.
CO
2
emissions targets
A revision of the regulation setting CO
2
emissions performance standards for new
passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles should include a thorough ex-
amination of which elements in the current legislation that can be strengthened to
ensure more ambition
from the CO
2
emissions targets, the incentive mechanism,
the pooling mechanism and to the various derogations. With the transition towards
zero-emission road transport in mind it is clear that the current CO
2
emissions tar-
gets must be strengthened significantly
both in 2025 and 2030
and that the reg-
ulation must include a phase-out date or target year for the sale of new petrol and
diesel cars.
The incentive mechanism for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles
The current incentive mechanism for zero- and low-emission vehicles in the regula-
tion should be improved. First, the incentive should mainly be focused on zero-
emissions vehicles. Second, it will be key that the combination of the proposed lev-
els of fleet-wide targets and benchmarks for zero-emissions vehicles will create the
necessary incentive for technological advancement as well as uptake. Part of the
solution could for example be to replace the current one-way adjustment system
(bonus) for zero- and low-emission vehicles by a two-way adjustment design (bo-
nus-malus). This would provide a clear incentive for manufacturers to prioritise
technological development.
It could also be examined if it is possible to address a situation where increased up-
take of zero-emission vehicles due to political decisions and regulation affecting the
demand side would result in corresponding or higher emissions elsewhere in the
EU, for example by omitting these from the incentive mechanism.
A mechanism taking into account the contribution of renewable and low-carbon fuel
Currently renewable and low-carbon fuels are regulated under the Fuel Quality Di-
rective and Renewable Energy Directive II contributing with greenhouse gas reduc-
tions from fossil-based fuels used in petrol and diesel vehicles. Allowing a mecha-
nism to take into account contributions from renewable and low-carbon fuel in the
CO
2
emissions standards could lower the incentives to develop and produce zero-
emissions vehicles. Therefore, the option should not be included but regulated as a
separate and transitionary regulation on the road to climate neutrality.
Use of revenues from excess emission premiums
The excess emissions premiums to be paid by manufacturers if their average spe-
cific emissions of CO
2
exceed their targets must continue entering the general
budget of the Union as other revenue and thereby be part of the overall prioritisa-
tion of expenditure in the general budgetary procedure.
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EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 340: Notat og høringssvar om Kommissionens offentlige høringer vedr. revision af EU’s kvotehandelsdirektiv, byrdefordelingsforordning, LULUCF-forordningen og forordningen om CO2-standarder for lette køretøjer
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Strengthening of infrastructure for zero-emission mobility
The transition towards zero-emission vehicles will require concrete action ensuring
an extensive rollout of public infrastructure supporting zero-emission vehicles.
These measures should include inter alia a widespread deployment of public re-
charging and refuelling points for alternative fuels. Furthermore, ambitious revi-
sions of the TEN-T and TEN-E Regulation will be needed.
Denmark supports the Commission’s intention to
strengthen the Emissions Trading
System (ETS) and to extend it to cover emissions from road transport and heating
in buildings. Extending the ETS to these sectors will create a uniform price signal
across sectors, making zero- and low-emission mobility financially more attractive
while improving the overall cost-effectiveness
of the EU’s
climate efforts.
However, extending the ETS to emissions from road transport cannot stand alone.
Ambitious and cost-effective policies and regulation at EU level are also required to
drive emission reductions. The Regulation setting CO
2
Emissions Performance
Standards plays a vital role in this regard.
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