Mandatory labeling
One of the objectives of Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the availability of information to consumers on fuel consumption and CO emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars[3] is to ensure that relevant and comparable information on fuel consumption and CO emissions of new passenger cars offered for sale or rental in the European Union is made available to consumers so that consumers can make informed choices, thereby encouraging manufacturers to do what is necessary to reduce automobile consumption. The fact that labels are placed on second-hand cars at the point of sale could influence buyers of new passenger cars, inclining them towards low-consumption vehicles, since this characteristic would be taken into account for the resale of the vehicle.
In the United Kingdom, the initial approach was considered ineffective. The way the information was presented was too complicated for consumers to understand. As a result, car manufacturers in the UK voluntarily agreed to put a "more consumer-friendly" color label showing CO emissions on all new vehicles from September 2005, with a letter from A (less than 100g CO per km) to F (more than 186g/km). The objective of the new "green label" is to give consumers clear information about the environmental performance of different vehicles.[4].
Other member countries of the European Union are also in the process of introducing this type of labels.
Non-existent obligation on vehicle emissions (Until 2008)
The limits of CO emissions generated by vehicles were subject to a voluntary agreement (in this they differ from the mandatory limits in the US CAFE legislation) between the EU and car manufacturers (see ACEA agreement). Ultimately, the European Union's objective with the voluntary agreements was to contribute to reaching an average CO emissions (measured according to Commission Directive 93/116/EC)[5] of 120 g/km for all new passenger vehicles for the year 2012.
However, as it has become increasingly clear that the initial agreement will not be met (having achieved only 160 g/km in 2005, down from 186 g/km in 1995), legislators have amended the regulations.
At the end of 2005, the European Parliament passed a resolution supporting mandatory CO2 emissions standards to replace current voluntary commitments from manufacturers and labelling.[6].
In late 2006, in response to a new report developed by the European Federation for Transport and Environment[7] documenting lack of progress on voluntary targets, the European Commission announced that it was working on a proposal to limit CO emissions from cars.[8].
On February 7, 2007, the European Commission published its draft legislative proposal (COM 2007 0019) to limit the average CO emissions of the European vehicle fleet to 120 g/km. However, this does not mean that all manufacturers would have an average of 120 g/km for their vehicles. Some large small car manufacturers, such as Fiat, Renault, Peugeot and Citroën are already very close to the target, while small volume small car manufacturers producing cars with higher emissions per km, such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Saab and Porsche, are further away from reaching that target. Far from being surprising, French manufacturers want a global objective, while German manufacturers say that a general objective would destroy their industries.
The European Federation of Transport and Environment insists on the need for a longer-term target to halve the fuel consumption of new cars during the 2010s, reaching 80 g CO/km by 2020. meet the voluntary objective of 140 g CO/km by 2008.[10].
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) requested an extension of the deadline at least until 2015 and a different approach that allows manufacturers to reduce CO emissions with economic viability.[11] Similarly, ACEA asked the governments of the European Union to develop policies that encourage demand for vehicles with reduced CO emissions.[12].
Current CO₂ emissions legislation
Seeing that manufacturers do not voluntarily reduce emissions, the European commission decided in 2009 to force a progressive reduction in emissions that aims to reach 95 g/km on average per car manufactured by each manufacturer. This value is close to the average emissions of some low-medium range vehicle manufacturers. Some steps of regulation 443/2009 are:[13].
On 25 September 2023, the Industry Ministers of the Member States considerably lowered the ambitions of the Euro 7 proposal, especially regarding the reduction of nitrogen oxide and fine particulate matter emissions. Italy, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia had campaigned against the project. initial.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][ 31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49].