EEA EFTA Comment on the proposal for CO2 emission reduction targets for new cars and vans

On 16 December 2021, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway submitted a joint EEA EFTA Comment on the legislative proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards strengthening the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles.

On 16 December 2021, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway submitted a joint EEA EFTA Comment on the legislative proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards strengthening the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles. The proposal was published as a part of the FitFor55 Package and would amend Regulation (EU) 2019/631 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles.

The Commission proposal would notably require emissions from new cars to be 55% lower in 2030 compared to 2021 and emissions from new vans would have to be 50% lower. From 1 January 2035, emissions from new cars and vans would have to be 100% lower compared to 2021.

The EEA EFTA States welcome the Commission proposal as regards strengthening the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles. They recognise that there is an urgent need to increase decarbonisation in all transport modes in order to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement as underlined in the EEA EFTA Comment on the European Strategy for a Sustainable and Smart Mobility.

The EEA EFTA States have ambitious national targets for the introduction of zero-emission vehicles and low- and zero-emission vessels. They rely on technological development, ambitious European legislation through the EEA Agreement, and active national and local policies to reach the targets.

In this context, the EEA EFTA States would like to see an even more ambitious timeline on reducing CO2 emissions. They suggest that the application of the 100% reduction target is brought forward from 2035 to 2030.

Read the full text of the EEA EFTA Comment here. 

A full list of EEA EFTA Comments is available here.