25 May 2023

CLECAT Policy Response on CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles

CLECAT, the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services, welcomes the Commission proposal revising the CO2 standards for new heavy-duty vehicles as a timely initiative to bring the emissions of road freight transport in line with the Paris Agreement and Europe’s ambition to become climate-neutral by 2050.

CLECAT considers the revision of the current Regulation an important step towards improving the emissions performance and efficiency of the logistics system by standardising and increasing the uptake of technologies which reduce fuel consumption and emissions. CLECAT believes a flexible mechanism to incentivise low- and zero-emissions vehicles should drive innovation while avoiding measures which would damage competitiveness of the transport and logistics sector.

Whereas the sector, including operators and OEMs have started to implement decarbonisation strategies, there are outstanding challenges related to the effective supply and availability of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, and the sector's limited financial capacity to undertake the transition towards Zero and Low emission Vehicles (ZLEV).