PURPOSE: to include the effect of trailers and semi-trailers on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations when determining the reduction of road charges.

PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: Directive (EU) 2022/362 of the European Parliament and of the Council enables CO2 emission-based differentiation of road charges for heavy-duty vehicles as well as for light duty vehicles in order to incentivise operators to deploy more efficient vehicles. At the time of its adoption, a legal framework for the certification of the effect of trailers on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations was not available yet. Therefore, trailers could not be included in the CO2 emission-based differentiation of road charges.

Although a trailer does not consume energy by itself, it requires energy from the towing motor vehicle to be moved. The optimisation of the energy efficiency of trailers leads to the reduction of the CO2 emissions of conventional vehicles and to the increase in vehicles’ autonomy. Trailers have a significant potential for reduction of CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations and could play an important role in the decarbonisation of the road freight transport sector.

Recital 31 of Directive (EU) 2022/362 called for the Commission to include the effect of trailers and semi-trailers on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations when determining the reduction of road charges once legally certified values for the effect of trailers and semi-trailers on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations are available. The condition laid down in the recital was fulfilled by the adoption of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1362.

CONTENT: the proposal aims to amend Directive 1999/62/EC, Council Directive 1999/37/EC and Directive (EU) 2019/520 to establish rules to include the effect of trailers on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicle combinations in road charging schemes that differentiate road charges based on vehicles’ CO2 emission.

The proposed measures only contribute to achieving the objectives set, notably of a consistent application of the 'polluter pays' and 'user pays' principles.

This proposal complements the proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1242, which extends its scope so as to set requirements on trailers’ manufacturers with regard to their new fleets, and thus applies to the supply side of the road freight transport sector. This proposal applies to the demand side of this sector by incentivising the purchase of more efficient trailers by transport operators.

The differentiation of road charges introduced in this proposal applies only to more efficient trailers. This means that road operators, toll service providers, and toll chargers do not need to register the relevant information of other trailers. The definition of trailer classes is meant to simplify implementation for those undertakings with a significant number of trailers.

The initiative is supported by the Impact Assessment performed for the revision of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The Impact Assessment has concluded that the energy efficiency of trailers has a significant potential for improvement and such measures would make a cost-efficient contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. In economic terms, the net economic savings over the vehicle lifetime from a societal perspective range from nearly EUR 11 500 in the case of reefer drawbar trailers to over EUR 42 500 for an average semi-trailer with box body.