The objective of this Regulation is to set emission performance standards for new passenger cars registered in the Community, which forms part of the Community's integrated approach to reducing CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles while ensuring the proper functioning of the internal market.
(2)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was approved on behalf of the European Community by Council Decision 94/69/EC of 15 December 1993 (3), requires all parties to formulate and implement national and, where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change. In this respect, the Commission proposed in January 2007 that, in the context of international negotiations, the European Union should pursue the objective of a 30 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels) and that the Union itself should make a firm independent commitment to achieve at least a 20 % reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels), irrespective of reductions achieved by other developed countries. This objective was endorsed by the European Parliament and the Council.
(3)
One of the implications of those commitments is that all Member States will need to reduce significantly emissions from passenger cars. Policies and measures should be implemented at Member State and Community level across all sectors of the Community economy, and not only within the industry and energy sectors, in order to generate the substantial reductions needed. Road transport is the second largest greenhouse-gas emitting sector in the Union and its emissions continue to rise. If the climate change impact of road transport continues to increase, it will significantly undermine reductions made by other sectors to combat climate change.
(4)
Community targets for new passenger cars provide manufacturers with more planning certainty and more flexibility to meet the CO2 reduction requirements than would be provided by separate national reduction targets. In setting emission performance standards, it is important to take into account the implications for markets and for the competitiveness of manufacturers, the direct and indirect costs imposed on business and the benefits that accrue in terms of stimulating innovation and reducing energy consumption.
(5)
This Regulation builds on a well-established process of measuring and monitoring the CO2 emissions of vehicles registered in the Community in accordance with Decision No 1753/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 2000 establishing a scheme to monitor the average specific emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars (4). It is important that the setting of CO2 emissions reduction requirements continues to provide Community-wide predictability and planning security for vehicle manufacturers across their new car fleet in the Community.
(6)
The Commission adopted a Community Strategy for reducing CO2 emissions from cars in 1995. The strategy was based on three pillars: voluntary commitments from the car industry to cut emissions, improvements in consumer information and the promotion of fuel-efficient cars by means of fiscal measures.
(7)
In 1998, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) adopted a commitment to reduce average emissions from new cars sold to 140 g CO2/km by 2008 and, in 1999, the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers' Association (JAMA) and the Korean Automobile Manufacturers' Association (KAMA) adopted a commitment to reduce average emissions from new cars sold to 140 g CO2/km by 2009. These commitments were recognised by Commission Recommendation 1999/125/EC of 5 February 1999 on the reduction of CO2 emissions from passenger cars (5) (ACEA), Commission Recommendation 2000/303/EC of 13 April 2000 on the reduction of CO2 emissions from passenger cars (KAMA) (6) and Commission Recommendation 2000/304/EC of 13 April 2000 on the reduction of CO2 emissions from passenger cars (JAMA) (7).
(8)
On 7 February 2007, the Commission adopted two parallel Communications: a Communication setting out the results of the review of the Community Strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars and light-commercial vehicles and a Communication on a Competitive Automotive Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century (CARS21). The Communications underlined that progress had been made towards the target of 140 g CO2/km by 2008/2009, but that the Community objective of 120 g CO2/km would not be met by 2012 in the absence of additional measures.
(9)
The Communications proposed an integrated approach with a view to reaching the Community target of 120 g CO2/km by 2012 and announced that the Commission would propose a legislative framework to achieve the Community objective by focusing on mandatory reductions of emissions of CO2 to reach an objective of 130 g CO2/km for the average new car fleet by means of improvements in vehicle motor technology. Consistent with the approach under the voluntary commitments adopted by manufacturers, this covers those elements that are taken into account in the measurement of the CO2 emissions of passenger cars in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information (8). A further reduction of 10 g CO2/km, or equivalent if technically necessary, will be delivered by other technological improvements and by an increased use of sustainable biofuels.
(10)
The legislative framework for implementing the average new car fleet target should ensure competitively neutral, socially equitable and sustainable reduction targets which take account of the diversity of European automobile manufacturers and avoid any unjustified distortion of competition between them. The legislative framework should be compatible with the overall objective of reaching the Community's Kyoto targets and should be complemented by other more use-related instruments such as differentiated car and energy taxes.
(11)
Appropriate funding should be ensured in the general budget of the European Union to promote the development of technologies intended to reduce radically CO2 emissions from road vehicles.
(12)
In order to maintain the diversity of the car market and its ability to cater for different consumer needs, CO2 targets for passenger cars should be defined according to the utility of the cars on a linear basis. To describe this utility, mass is an appropriate parameter which provides a correlation with present emissions and therefore results in more realistic and competitively neutral targets. Moreover, data on mass is readily available. Data on alternative utility parameters such as footprint (track width times wheelbase) should be collected in order to facilitate longer-term evaluations of the utility-based approach. The Commission should, by 2014, review the availability of data and, if appropriate, submit a proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council to adapt the utility parameter.
(13)
The aim of this Regulation is to create incentives for the car industry to invest in new technologies. This Regulation actively promotes eco-innovation and takes into account future technological developments. The development of innovative propulsion technologies should particularly be promoted, as they result in significantly lower emissions than traditional passenger cars. In this way, the long-term competitiveness of the European industry is promoted and more high-quality jobs are created. The Commission should consider the possibility of including eco-innovation measures in the review of test procedures pursuant to Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, taking into consideration the technical and economic impacts of such inclusion.
(14)
In recognition of the very high research and development and unit production costs of early generations of very low carbon vehicle technologies to be introduced into the marketplace following its entry into force, this Regulation seeks to accelerate and facilitate, on an interim basis, the process of introducing into the Community market ultra low carbon vehicles at their initial stages of commercialisation.
(15)
The use of certain alternative fuels can offer significant CO2 reductions in well-to-wheel terms. This Regulation therefore incorporates specific provisions aimed at promoting further deployment of certain alternative-fuel vehicles in the Community market.
(16)
To provide consistency with the approach adopted under the Commission's CO2 and cars strategy, in particular in relation to the voluntary commitments undertaken by the manufacturers associations, the target should be applied to new passenger cars which are registered in the Community for the first time and which, except for a limited period to avoid abuses, have not previously been registered outside the Community.
(17)
Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 establishing a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (9) establishes a harmonised framework containing the administrative provisions and general technical requirements for approval of all new vehicles within its scope. The entity responsible for complying with this Regulation should be the same as that responsible for all aspects of the type-approval process in accordance with that Directive and for ensuring conformity of production.
(18)
For the purposes of type-approval, specific requirements apply for special-purpose vehicles, as defined in Annex II of Directive 2007/46/EC, and they should therefore be excluded from the scope of this Regulation. Vehicles which are classified as category M1 before the entry into force of this Regulation, which are built specifically for commercial purposes to accommodate wheelchair use inside the vehicle and which meet the definition of special-purpose vehicle in Annex II of Directive 2007/46/EC should also be excluded from the scope of this Regulation in line with Community policy to help people with disabilities.
(19)
Manufacturers should have flexibility to decide how to meet their targets under this Regulation and should be allowed to average emissions over their new car fleet rather than having to respect CO2 targets for each individual car. Manufacturers should therefore be required to ensure that the average specific emission for all the new cars registered in the Community for which they are responsible does not exceed the average of the emissions targets for those cars. This requirement should be phased in between 2012 and 2015 in order to facilitate the transition.
(20)
It is not appropriate to use the same method to determine the emissions reduction targets for large-volume manufacturers as for small-volume manufacturers considered as independent on the basis of the criteria set out in this Regulation. Such small-volume manufacturers should have alternative emissions reduction targets relating to the technological potential of a given manufacturer's vehicles to reduce their specific emissions of CO2 and consistent with the characteristics of the market segments concerned. This derogation should be covered by the review of the specific emissions targets in Annex I, to be completed by the beginning of 2013 at the latest.
(21)
Niche manufacturers should be allowed to benefit from an alternative target which is 25 % lower than their average specific emissions of CO2 in 2007. An equivalent target should be determined where information on a manufacturer's average specific emissions does not exist for the year 2007. This derogation should be covered by the review of the specific emissions targets in Annex I, to be completed by the beginning of 2013 at the latest.
(22)
In determining the average specific emissions of CO2 for all the new cars registered in the Community for which manufacturers are responsible, all cars should be taken into account irrespective of their mass or other characteristics. Although Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 does not cover passenger cars with a reference mass exceeding 2 610 kg and to which type approval is not extended in accordance with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, the emissions for these cars should be measured in accordance with the same measurement procedure as specified for passenger cars in Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 (10). The resulting CO2 emission values should be entered in the certificate of conformity of the vehicle in order to enable their inclusion in the monitoring scheme.
(23)
In order to provide for flexibility for the purposes of meeting their targets under this Regulation, manufacturers may agree to form a pool on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis. An agreement to form a pool should not exceed five years but may be renewed. Where manufacturers form a pool, they should be deemed to have met their targets under this Regulation provided that the average emissions of the pool as a whole do not exceed the target emissions for the pool.
(24)
A robust compliance mechanism is necessary in order to ensure that the targets under this Regulation are met.
(25)
The specific emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars are measured on a harmonised basis in the Community according to the methodology laid down in Regulation (EC) No 715/2007. To minimise the administrative burden of this Regulation, compliance should be measured by reference to data on registrations of new cars in the Community collected by Member States and reported to the Commission. To ensure the consistency of the data used to assess compliance, the rules for the collection and reporting of this data should be harmonised as far as possible.
(26)
Directive 2007/46/EC provides that manufacturers are to issue a certificate of conformity which must accompany each new passenger car and that Member States are to permit the registration and entry into service of a new passenger car only if it is accompanied by a valid certificate of conformity. Data collected by Member States should be consistent with the certificate of conformity issued by the manufacturer for the passenger car and should be based on this reference only. Should Member States, for justified reasons, not use the certificate of conformity to complete the process of registration and entry into service of a new passenger car, they should put the necessary measures in place to ensure adequate accuracy in the monitoring procedure. There should be a Community standard database for certificate of conformity data. It should be used as a single reference to enable Member States to more easily maintain their registration data when vehicles are newly registered.
(27)
Manufacturers' compliance with the targets under this Regulation should be assessed at Community level. Manufacturers whose average specific emissions of CO2 exceed those permitted under this Regulation should pay an excess emissions premium in respect of each calendar year from 2012 onwards. The premium should be adjusted according to the extent to which manufacturers fail to comply with their target. It should increase over time. In order to provide a sufficient incentive to take measures to reduce specific emissions of CO2 from passenger cars, the premium should reflect technological costs. The amounts of the excess emissions premium should be considered as revenue for the general budget of the European Union.
(28)
Any national measure that Member States may maintain or introduce in accordance with Article 176 of the Treaty should not, in consideration of the purpose of and procedures established by this Regulation, impose additional or more stringent penalties on manufacturers who fail to meet their targets under this Regulation.
(29)
This Regulation should be without prejudice to the full application of Community competition rules.
(30)
The Commission should consider new modalities for reaching the long-term target, in particular the slope of the curve, the utility parameter and the excess emissions premium scheme.
(31)
The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (11).
(32)
In particular, the Commission should be empowered to amend the monitoring and reporting requirements in the light of the experience of the application of this Regulation, to establish methods for the collection of excess emissions premiums, to adopt detailed provisions concerning the derogation for certain manufacturers, and to adapt Annex I to take account of the evolution of the mass of new passenger cars registered in the Community and to reflect any change in the regulatory test procedure for the measurement of specific emissions of CO2. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.
(33)
Decision No 1753/2000/EC should be repealed for reasons of simplification and legal clarity.
(34)
Since the objective of this Regulation, namely establishing CO2 emissions performance requirements for new passenger cars in order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market and to achieve the Union's overall objective of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,
