EU: Commission aims to slash truck, bus emissions by 90%

The EU's executive body, the European Commission, aims to slash emissions for heavy-duty vehicles by 90% by 2040 as compared to 2019 in a new proposal announced Tuesday.

The Commission also proposed mandating that new city buses from 2030 be emissions-free vehicles.

The proposal came the same day as lawmakers in the European Parliament passed a new law banning sales of fossil fuel vehicles in the bloc after 2035.

How will the EU meet its goal?

Frans Timmermans, the EU's Climate Commissioner, said "all parts of the transport sector have to actively contribute" towards reaching the bloc's climate goals.

"In 2050, nearly all of the vehicles on our roads have to be zero emission, our climate law requires it," he said while presenting the plans in Strasbourg.

By 2050, the 27-nation bloc aspires to be fully climate neutral.

The EU has interim targets set to stay on track to meet its climate goals.

By 2030, the European Commission wants heavy vehicles to emit 45% less greenhouse gases compared to 2019. By 2035, this number should decrease by 65% until the target 90% is achieved in 2040.

The proposal will now be subjected to scrutiny by EU member states and the European Parliament.

How has the car industry reacted?

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association called for a plan to plug in more charging stations and expand hydrogen filling stations on the continent among the 27 nations that form the bloc.

As a technical matter, the industry group said that if the target of a reduction of 45% by 2030 is to be met, 400,000 zero-emission trucks would have to be operational, and a minimum 100,000 new zero-emissions trucks would have to be registered each year.

The association further quantified the practical measures that would need to come into place.

More than 50,000 publicly accessible chargers for trucks would need to be installed in the next seven years, with 35,000 of them being high-performance charging systems.  An additional 700 hydrogen refilling stations would also be needed.

What do critics of the plan say?

Opponents of the EU's plans have suggested neither consumers nor industry is prepared to make the change from the combustible engine to electric vehicles so fast. Tens of thousands of jobs are also at risk.

Jens Gieseke, a member of parliament in the center-right European People's Party, said, "Let the market decide what technology is best to reach our goals."

ar/rs (AFP, dpa)