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

Europaudvalget 2020-21
EUU Alm.del Bilag 340
Offentligt

The Danish Government’s response to the public consultation on the

revision

of the Regulation setting CO

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

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

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

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.

emissions targets

A revision of the regulation setting CO

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

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

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

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

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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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

Emissions Performance

Standards plays a vital role in this regard.

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