EU reaches agreement on Euro 7 standard
The European Council and Parliament have agreed on a provisional regulation to further reduce pollutant emissions from vehicles.
The proposal comes without significant tightening for the car industry.
Euro 7, an evolution from the current Euro 6 regulation, is a regulatory proposal put forward by the European Commission (EC) to further reduce pollutant emissions from cars, vans, trucks, and buses. After months of negotiations, the European Council and Parliament agreed on a legislative text, which brings about more stringent exhaust emission limits and test procedures for heavy-duty vehicles but remains largely unchanged in emissions targets for light-duty vehicles.
Reduction of general vehicle emissions
The new regulation sets more adequate rules for vehicle emissions and aims to further lower air pollutant emissions from road transport. It will retain the Euro 6 emissions limits for cars and vans but reduce the limits for buses and lorries. Furthermore, it introduces other sources of emissions, such as limits for particles emitted by brakes and tyres, and states lifetime requirements. With these rules, electric cars and hydrogen vehicles are also affected.
New requirements for batteries and information obligations
Every vehicle is to be equipped with an Environmental Vehicle Passport (EVP), which contains information on environmental performance at the time of registration as well as current information on fuel consumption, fuel emissions, etc. The law will also introduce minimum requirements for the service life of batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles. Lastly, batteries shall still have at least 72 percent of their original charging capacity after eight years or 160,000 kilometres.
Consolidation of several vehicle classes
A further pioneering move was the broadening of the scope of the regulation to cover cars, vans, and heavy-duty vehicles in one single legal act. Upon entry into force, it will replace the previously separate emissions rules for cars and vans (Euro 6) and lorries and busses (Euro VI).
As a next step, the Parliament and Council need to formally approve the agreement before it can enter into force. The regulation shall then apply 30 months after its entry into force for cars and vans, and 48 months for buses, trucks and trailers.