To support Europe’s transition to more environmentally friendly transportation and align with the EU’s climate neutrality goals, the European Council has adopted a common position on new rules for accounting greenhouse gas emissions in transport services. This forms part of the broader 'greening freight transport’ legislative package.
The proposed regulation primarily aims to enhance the calculation and information disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions in transport services, allowing customers to make more informed choices in favor of sustainable transport options.
Today, we accomplished an important step to decarbonise transport services in Europe. Once adopted, the new common standards for counting greenhouse gas emissions will facilitate the transport sector’s shift to greener solutions and empower our citizens to make informed choices towards more sustainable means of transport” said Óscar Puente, Spanish minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.
The draft regulation establishes a uniform regulatory framework, based on an ISO standard, for accounting greenhouse gas emissions across the entire multimodal transport chain. This approach creates a level playing field among different modes, segments, and the EU’s national networks.
While the regulation does not mandate greenhouse gas emissions calculation or reporting, compliance is required when disclosing data or as dictated by applicable national law.
It is specifically designed to support companies voluntarily reporting emissions from their transport operations or complying with contractual obligations and specific measures imposed by industry and public authorities.
The Council’s amendments retained the core of the Commission’s proposal but introduced changes to:
- Prevent the duplication of rules for greenhouse gas emissions accounting under multiple EU legislations.
- Facilitate implementation, especially for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
- Establish comprehensive databases of default values for emission intensity and emission factors.
- Allow member states to impose stricter rules on domestic transport operations, excluding those conducted by SMEs.
- Adjust certain Commission empowerments to involve member states more closely in the regulation’s implementation.
The adoption of the Council’s negotiating mandate marks the next step in the legislative process. The incoming presidency will now engage in talks with the European Parliament, once the Parliament establishes its position.