The European Commission is under pressure to introduce a CO2 truck emissions limit to fall in line with Japan, USA and its own efficiency standards on cars and vans.
European light vehicles will have to meet a new limit of 95g/km by 2021, but there is currently no regulation for heavy vehicles.
Britain, Belgium, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Germany are calling for similar measures to be brought in for trucks, with estimates heavy vehicles make contribute more than 25 per cent of emissions on the road.
A report by the European Commission said measures to bring in C02 limits are being expedited.
“The Commission will, therefore, speed up analytical work on design options for standards for heavy duty vehicles and will launch a public consultation to prepare the ground for a legislative proposal,” the document says.
The document contains a list of proposals to lower the CO2 footprint of transport, including a “legislative proposal to set fuel efficiency standards for heavy duty vehicles” and a revision of emissions standards for cars and vans post-2020.
The industry has resisted introducing targets for trucks on the grounds that their different shapes and sizes make a “one-size-fits-all” approach to limiting CO2 emissions difficult and fuel efficiency has already helped lower their carbon footprint.
To prepare the ground for the new limits the Commission will propose a law on the certification of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of new trucks and a law to monitor fuel consumption.
Initially these measures would only be for engines, but the European Commission has a view to expand it to all categories.
