Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light commercial vehicles, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011 (recast) (Text with EEA relevance.)

Article 1

Subject matter and objectives

From 1 January 2025, the following EU fleet-wide targets shall apply:

(a) for the average emissions of the new passenger car fleet, an EU fleet-wide target equal to a 15 % reduction of the target in 2021determined in accordance with point 6.1.1 of Part A of Annex I;

(b) for the average emissions of the new light commercial vehicles fleet, an EU fleet-wide target equal to a 15 % reduction of the target in 2021 determined in accordance with point 6.1.1 of Part B of Annex I.

From 1 January 2030, the following EU fleet-wide targets shall apply:

(a) for the average emissions of the new passenger car fleet, an EU fleet-wide target equal to a  55 % reduction of the target in 2021 determined in accordance with point 6.1.2 of Part A of Annex I;

(b) for the average emissions of the new light commercial vehicles fleet, an EU fleet- wide target equal to a  50 % reduction of the target in 2021 determined in accordance with point 6.1.2 of Part B of Annex I.

From 1 January 2035, the following EU fleet-wide targets shall apply:

(a) for the average emissions of the new passenger car fleet, an EU fleet-wide target equal to a 100 % reduction of the target in 2021 determined in accordance with Part A, point 6.1.3, of Annex I;

(b) for the average emissions of the new light commercial vehicles fleet, an EU fleet-wide target equal to a 100 % reduction of the target in 2021 determined in accordance with Part B, point 6.1.3, of Annex I.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to the following motor vehicles:

(a) category M1 as defined in  Article 4(1), point (a)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 (‘passenger cars’)which are registered in the Union for the first time and which have not previously been registered outside the Union (‘new passenger cars’);

(b) category N1 as defined in Article 4(1), point (b)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 and falling within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 (‘light commercial vehicles’), which are registered in the Union for the first time and which have not previously been registered outside the Union (‘new light commercial vehicles’); in the case of zero-emission vehicles of category N with a reference mass exceeding 2 610 kg or 2 840 kg, as the case may be, they shall, from 1 January 2025, for the purposes of this Regulation and without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 and Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, be counted as light commercial vehicles falling within the scope of this Regulation if the excess reference mass is due only to the mass of the energy storage system.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Regulation (EU) 2018/858 shall apply. The following definitions shall also apply:

(a) ‘average specific emissions of CO2’ means, in relation to a manufacturer, the average of the specific emissions of CO2 of all new passenger cars or of all new light commercial vehicles of which it is the manufacturer;

(h) ‘specific emissions of CO2’ means the CO2 emissions of a passenger car or a light commercial vehicle measured in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 and its implementing Regulations and specified as the CO2 mass emissions (combined) in the certificate of conformity of the vehicle. For passenger cars or light commercial vehicles which are not type-approved in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, ‘specific emissions of CO2’ means the CO2 emissions measured pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, notably in accordance with the same measurement procedure as specified in Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 until 31 December 2020, and from 1 January 2021 in Regulation (EU) 2017/1151, or in accordance with procedures adopted by the Commission to establish the CO2 emissions for such vehicles;

(j) ‘specific emissions target’ means, in relation to a manufacturer, the annual target determined in accordance with Annex I or, if the manufacturer is granted a derogation in accordance with Article 10, the specific emissions target determined according to that derogation;

(k) ‘EU fleet-wide target’ means the average CO2 emissions of all new passenger cars or all new light commercial vehicles to be achieved in a given period;

(l) ‘test mass’ or ‘TM’ means the test mass of a passenger car or light commercial vehicle as stated in the certificate of conformity and as defined in point 3.2.25 of Annex XXI to Regulation (EU) 2017/1151;

(m) ‘zero- and low-emission vehicle’ means a passenger car or a light commercial vehicle with tailpipe emissions from zero up to 50 g CO2/km, as determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1151.

For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘a group of connected manufacturers’ means a manufacturer and its connected undertakings. In relation to a manufacturer, ‘connected undertakings’ means:

(a) undertakings in which the manufacturer has, directly or indirectly: (i) the power to exercise more than half the voting rights; or (ii) the power to appoint more than half the members of the supervisory board, board of management or bodies legally representing the undertaking; or (iii) the right to manage the undertaking's affairs;

(b) undertakings which directly or indirectly have, over the manufacturer, the rights or powers referred to in point (a);

(c) undertakings in which an undertaking referred to in point (b) has, directly or indirectly, the rights or powers referred to in point (a);

(d) undertakings in which the manufacturer together with one or more of the undertakings referred to in point (a), (b) or (c), or in which two or more of the latter undertakings, jointly have the rights or powers referred to in point (a);

(e) undertakings in which the rights or the powers referred to in point (a) are jointly held by the manufacturer or one or more of its connected undertakings referred to in points (a) to (d) and one or more third parties.

Article 4

Specific emissions targets

The manufacturer shall ensure that its average specific emissions of CO2 do not exceed the following specific emissions targets:

(a) for the calendar year 2020, the specific emissions target determined in accordance with points 1 and 2 of Part A of Annex I in the case of passenger cars, or points 1 and 2 of Part B of Annex I in the case of light commercial vehicles, or where a manufacturer is granted a derogation under Article 10, in accordance with that derogation;

(b) for each calendar year from 2021 until 2024, the specific emissions targets determined in accordance with points 3 and 4 of Part A or B of Annex I, as appropriate, or, where a manufacturer is granted a derogation under Article 10, in accordance with that derogation and point 5 of Part A or B of Annex I;

(c) for each calendar year, starting from 2025, the specific emissions targets determined in accordance with point 6.3 of Part A or B of Annex I, or, where a manufacturer is granted a derogation under Article 10, in accordance with that derogation.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (c), where the specific emissions target determined in accordance with point 6.3 of Part A or B of Annex I is negative, the specific emissions target shall be 0 g/km.

Those average specific emissions of CO2 shall be calculated as the average over the three-year period of the annual average specific emissions of CO2 weighted according to the number of newly registered vehicles for the manufacturer in each calendar year.

The specific emissions target shall be calculated as the average over the three-year period of the annual specific emissions targets determined in accordance with point 6.3 of Part A or Part B of Annex I or, where a manufacturer is granted a derogation under Article 10, in accordance with that derogation, weighted according to the number of newly registered vehicles for the manufacturer in each calendar year.

For each calendar year in which a manufacturer was included in a pool, the annual average specific emissions of CO2 and the annual specific emissions target to be used for those calculations shall be the values for that pool.

For the purposes of determining each manufacturer's average specific emissions of CO2, the following percentages of each manufacturer's new passenger cars registered in the relevant year shall be taken into account:

— 95 % in 2020,

— 100 % from 2021 onwards.

Article 5

Super-credits

In calculating the average specific emissions of CO2, each new passenger car with specific emissions of CO2 of less than 50 g CO2/km shall be counted as:

— 2 passenger cars in 2020,

— 1,67 passenger cars in 2021,

— 1,33 passenger cars in 2022,

— 1 passenger car from 2023,

for the year in which it is registered in the period from 2020 to 2022, subject to a cap of 7,5 g CO2/km over that period for each manufacturer, as calculated in accordance with Article 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1153.

Article 6

Pooling

An agreement to form a pool may relate to one or more calendar years, provided that the overall duration of each agreement does not exceed five calendar years, and must be entered into on or before 31 December in the first calendar year for which emissions are to be pooled. Manufacturers which form a pool shall file the following information with the Commission:

(a) the manufacturers who will be included in the pool;

(b) the manufacturer nominated as the pool manager who will be the contact point for the pool and will be responsible for paying any excess emissions premium imposed on the pool in accordance with Article 8;

(c) evidence that the pool manager will be able to fulfil the obligations under point (b);

(d) the category of vehicles registered as M1 or N1, for which the pool shall apply.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, an agreement to form a pool covering the calendar year 2025 or 2026 may be entered into up to 31 December 2027.

Manufacturers may enter into pooling arrangements provided that their agreements comply with Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and that they allow open, transparent and non-discriminatory participation on commercially reasonable terms by any manufacturer requesting membership of the pool. Without prejudice to the general applicability of Union competition rules to such pools, all members of a pool shall in particular ensure that neither data sharing nor information exchange may occur in the context of their pooling arrangement, except in respect of the following information:

(a) the average specific emissions of CO2;

(b) the specific emissions target;

(c) the total number of vehicles registered.

Article 7

Monitoring and reporting of average emissions

The Commission shall keep a central register of the data reported by Member States under this Article, and by 30 June of each year, shall provisionally calculate the following for each manufacturer:

(a) the average specific emissions of CO2 in the preceding calendar year;

(b) the specific emissions target in the preceding calendar year;

(c) the difference between its average specific emissions of CO2 in the preceding calendar year and its specific emissions target for that year.

The Commission shall notify each manufacturer of its provisional calculation for that manufacturer. The notification shall include data for each Member State on the number of new passenger cars and of new light commercial vehicles registered and their specific emissions of CO2.

The register shall be publicly available.

The Commission shall consider any notifications from manufacturers and shall, by 31 October, either confirm or amend the provisional calculations under paragraph 4.

The designated competent authorities shall ensure the correctness and completeness of the data transmitted to the Commission, and shall provide a contact point that is to be available to respond quickly to requests from the Commission to address errors and omissions in the transmitted datasets.

The Commission shall take those deviations into account for the purpose of calculating the average specific emissions of CO2 of a manufacturer.

The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, detailed rules on the procedures for reporting such deviations and for taking them into account in the calculation of the average specific emissions of CO2. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 16(2).

Article 7a

Life-cycle CO2 emissions

Article 8

Excess emissions premium

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, with respect to the calendar years 2025 to 2027, the Commission shall impose an excess emissions premium on any manufacturer whose average specific emissions of CO2 over those three years exceed its specific emissions target over the period 2025 to 2027.

The excess emissions premium under paragraph 1 shall be calculated using the following formula:

For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall apply:

— ‘excess emissions’ means the positive number of grams per kilometre by which a manufacturer's average specific emissions of CO2, taking into account CO2 emissions reductions due to innovative technologies approved in accordance with Article 11, exceeded its specific emissions target in the calendar year or part thereof to which the obligation under Article 4 applies, rounded to the nearest three decimal places, and

— ‘number of newly registered vehicles’ means the number of new passenger cars or new light commercial vehicles counted separately of which it is the manufacturer and which were registered in that period according to the phase-in criteria as set out in Article 4(3).

Article 9

Publication of performance of manufacturers

By 31 October of each year, the Commission shall publish, by means of implementing acts, a list indicating:

(a) for each manufacturer, its specific emissions target for the preceding calendar year;

(b) for each manufacturer, its average specific emissions of CO2 in the preceding calendar year;

(c) the difference between the manufacturer's average specific emissions of CO2 in the preceding calendar year and its specific emissions target in that year;

(d) the average specific emissions of CO2 for all new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles registered in the Union in the previous calendar year;

(e) the average mass in running order for all new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles registered in the Union in the preceding calendar year until 31 December 2020;

(f) the average test mass of all new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles registered in the Union in the preceding calendar year.

The list referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall, for the publication by 31 October 2022, also indicate the following:

(a) the 2025 and 2030 EU fleet-wide targets referred to in Article 1(4) and (5), respectively, calculated by the Commission in accordance with points 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 of Parts A and B of Annex I;

(b) the values for a2021, a2025 and a2030 calculated by the Commission in accordance with points 6.2 of Parts A and B of Annex I.

Article 10

Derogations for certain manufacturers

An application for a derogation from the specific emissions target calculated in accordance with Annex I may be made by a manufacturer of fewer than 10 000 new passenger cars or 22 000 new light commercial vehicles registered in the Union per calendar year, and which:

(a) is not part of a group of connected manufacturers; or

(b) is part of a group of connected manufacturers that is responsible in total for fewer than 10 000 new passenger cars or 22 000 new light commercial vehicles registered in the Union per calendar year; or

(c) is part of a group of connected manufacturers but operates its own production facilities and design centre.

A derogation applied for under paragraph 1 may be granted from the specific emissions targets applicable until and including the calendar year 2035. An application shall be made to the Commission and shall include:

(a) the name of, and contact person for, the manufacturer;

(b) evidence that the manufacturer is eligible for a derogation under paragraph 1;

(c) details of the passenger cars or light commercial vehicles which it manufactures including the test mass and specific emissions of CO2 of those passenger cars or light commercial vehicles; and

(d) a specific emissions target consistent with its reduction potential, including the economic and technological potential to reduce its specific emissions of CO2 and taking into account the characteristics of the market for the type of passenger car or light commercial vehicle manufactured.

The application shall be submitted at the latest by 31 October of the first year in which the derogation shall apply.

Such application may be made by a manufacturer in respect of itself or in respect of itself together with any of its connected undertakings. An application shall be made to the Commission and shall include:

(a) all of the information referred to in points (a) and (c) of paragraph 2, including, where relevant, information about any connected undertakings;

(b) in relation to applications referring to points 1 to 4 of Part A of Annex I, a target which is a 45 % reduction on the average specific emissions of CO2 in 2007 or, where a single application is made in respect of a number of connected undertakings, a 45 % reduction on the average of those undertakings' average specific emissions of CO2 in 2007;

(c) in relation to applications referring to point 6.3 of Part A of Annex I to this Regulation, a target applicable in the calendar years 2025 to 2028 which is the reduction specified in point (a) of Article 1(4) of this Regulation on the target calculated in accordance with point (b) of this paragraph taking into account the CO2 emissions measured pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/1151.

Where information on a manufacturer's average specific emissions of CO2 does not exist for the year 2007, the Commission shall determine an equivalent reduction target based upon the best available CO2 emissions reduction technologies deployed in passenger cars of comparable mass and taking into account the characteristics of the market for the type of car manufactured. That target shall be used by the applicant for the purposes of point (b) of the second subparagraph.

The Commission shall grant a derogation to the manufacturer where it is demonstrated that the criteria for the derogation referred to in this paragraph have been met.

The Commission is also empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 17 to amend Part A of Annex I for the purpose of setting out the calculation formulae of the derogation targets referred to in point (c) of the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 of this Article.

Article 11

Eco-innovation

Such technologies shall be taken into consideration only if the methodology used to assess them is capable of producing verifiable, repeatable and comparable results.