Heavy duty vehicles are a major contributor to climate change, accounting for over a quarter of CO2 emissions from road transport. The agreement sets CO2 emission reduction targets of 45% for 2030-2034, 65% for 2035-2039 and 90% from 2040 for trucks and buses. For new urban buses, the target is a 90% reduction by 2030 and zero emissions by 2035.

At present, the European Union does not have sufficient infrastructure to provide charging and hydrogen refuelling points for new vehicles. The European Union and Member States need to dramatically accelerate the deployment of more charging and refuelling stations across the EU to enable more zero emission vehicles to be used on European roads.

From an industrial perspective, European manufacturers and suppliers must have access to the raw materials and technologies needed to produce new vehicles and the necessary components. The EU's industrial strategy must quickly create the conditions necessary to localise the production of these vehicles.

Significant public funding will be needed to stimulate the much-needed fleet renewal, in the form of purchase incentives for transport companies or through public procurement, in particular for buses or vocational vehicles used by public services. The revised fiscal rules and the next EU budget will play an important role here.

IndustriAll Europe hopes that the necessary revision of legislation, together with other policy instruments, will trigger massive investments to enable the production of efficient and clean vehicles in Europe.

Impact on jobs

While the revised legislation was necessary to reduce emissions from road transport, it raises questions for the thousands of workers who depend on jobs in Europe's automotive industry. The employment impact of this rapid industrial change is still unknown.

A significant number of skilled workers will be needed to design and manufacture these new vehicles and related technologies, in a context of an already tight labour market. Where will they come from? Who will train them? What resources are available to fund retraining and upskilling programmes?

According to the agreement, the European Commission will carry out a detailed evaluation of the regulation and its impact by 2027. In addition to reviewing the technological parameters, it will be crucial to monitor labour and social developments: the impact on employment and working conditions, the existence of negotiated plans with trade unions to manage structural change at company and site level, skills needs and training programmes for workers.

Judith Kirton-Darling, Acting Joint General Secretary of industriAll Europe, said

"Reaching an agreement on stricter CO2 targets for heavy vehicles is a crucial step to ensure that road transport is in line with Europe's climate ambition. Europe has leading companies and a highly qualified workforce to turn our climate ambition into an industrial success. But Europe and national governments must now be coherent.

“To make the target achievable and socially acceptable, we need massive investment in infrastructure. We need to support fleet renewal programmes and up-skilling and re-skilling. Our main concern today is fiscal rules and a much tighter EU budget, which will severely undermine Europe's ability to deliver the necessary investment. Implementing the Green Deal requires a just transition and public investment, not austerity.”