Consultation outcome

Government response to the consultation on proposals to regulate carbon dioxide emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles in the UK

Updated 13 October 2020

Introduction

The UK has left the EU. There is now a transition period until the end of 2020 while the UK and EU negotiate additional arrangements. The current rules on trade, travel, and business for the UK and EU will continue to apply during the transition period. New rules will take effect on 1 January 2021.

Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from new heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) registered in Europe each year are currently governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1242^{[footnote 1]}. This regulation sets a mandatory fleet average CO2 emissions target and specific CO2 emissions targets for individual manufacturers.

Following the end of the transition period, Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 will be copied into UK law, and the Department for Transport (DfT) has laid a statutory instrument (SI) to correct for deficiencies arising as the result of retaining an EU regulation in UK law. The SI amends the regulation to ensure it functions in a UK-only context.

The government carried out a consultation from 10 July to 21 August 2020 on proposals to amend the retained EU legislation to ensure it continues to function in the UK from 1 January 2021. This document summarises the responses and sets out the government’s response to the issues raised.

As first set out in the government’s Road to Zero strategy, the UK government intends to pursue a future approach “…that is at least as ambitious as the current arrangements for vehicle emissions regulation”. The consultation and the government’s response are in line with that commitment.

The government’s general approach in transferring the HDV CO2 regulations into UK law is to:

• retain policy that supports the delivery of our wider ambitions to reduce CO2 emissions from transport in support of net-zero

• provide certainty to vehicle manufacturers on plans for regulation following the transition period and minimise additional reporting burdens

• ensure that UK regulation is at least as ambitious as the regulatory regime established in the EU

• enable the UK government to assume the obligations and functions, currently performed by the European Commission, to ensure the regime continues to function in a UK-only context

The new heavy-duty vehicle emission performance standards (amendment) (EU exit) regulations will be made under the European Union Withdrawal Act (EUWA) 2018. EUWA provisions allow for secondary legislation to be made, for a time-limited period, in order to correct for any inoperability within the newly retained EU legislation.

The EUWA does not otherwise allow changes to be made to the retained law to take alternative policy objectives into account.

The general approach is therefore that if a provision:

• does not work without alteration, it’s been amended
• does not work sensibly without alterations, it’s been amended in a manner to maintain its intention

Similarly, where a provision continues to function in the UK after exit, it’s not been amended, regardless of wider UK policy/commitments.

Noting the above constraints, the consultation document only sought comments on the proposed new UK provisions to ensure that the operation of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 was practicable and continued to work within the UK only context.

A total of 11 responses were received to this consultation. The government is grateful for the responses received and values the evidence and opinions submitted. A list of organisations who submitted responses is at Annex 1 .

All the responses to this public consultation have been recorded and analysed. The following sets out a summary of the views received and the government’s response.

Consultation response

General

In the main, consultees welcomed the proposals and agreed that they would ensure a continuation of the HDV CO2 regulations following the end of the transition period. Continuity of ambition between the UK and the EU regime was also welcomed to provide certainty for both manufacturers and operators manufacturing, registering and operating vehicles across multiple markets.

Several responses referred to how a future UK CO2 emissions reduction standards regime should function and what should be included. As noted in the consultation document, and paragraph 7 above, “…the European Union Withdrawal Act provisions require that ministers can only amend the UK statutory instrument for inoperabilities”. Comments outside of these constraints have therefore not been considered. The following focuses on the government’s response to the issues raised that were in scope of the consultation and offers further clarification on several issues.

Importantly, there was a recognition that the proposals align with the government’s commitment to pursue “…a future approach as we leave the European Union that is at least as ambitious as the current arrangements for vehicle emissions regulation”.

Key Issues

Changes in the reporting arrangements arising from Article 19

Baseline data reported by manufacturers to the European Commission in September 2020 under Part B of Annex 1 of 2018/956 as amended by 2019/888

Article 19 of EU 2019/1242 amends EU Regulation 2018/956 (as amended by 2019/888) on the monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions from new HDVs. Essentially this pushes the first reporting date by member states and manufacturers back from 28 February to 30 September each year starting from 30 September 2020. This has implications for the operation of the existing monitoring and reporting regime in the UK.

Following the UK’s exit from the EU on 31 January 2020, and entering into the transition period to 31 December 2020, the main effect of this change is that all of the manufacturer’s data for the baseline reporting period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020 will now be submitted to the European Commission by 30 September 2020. The baseline ‘reference CO2 emissions’ in each of the vehicle sub-categories will therefore be calculated and set by the Commission and published in April 2021.

The baseline data published in April 2021 will include the UK data and the consultation, therefore, proposed to adopt these published baselines against which the 2025 and 2030 reductions targets will then be measured in the UK. Consultees were asked if they had any comments on this proposed approach.

While this approach was broadly supported, there was concern, particularly among vehicle manufacturers, that there needed to be a recognition that the UK fleet is different to the EU wide fleet in composition. There was, therefore, a preference for a UK market-specific baseline to reflect this and a proposal to conduct a short study to analyse the potential effects of the UK regulation.

Government response

Given all the relevant data (including UK data) to establish the baseline will be reported to the European Commission by 30 September 2020 (meaning, within the transition period), and that the baseline ‘reference CO2 emissions’ in each of the vehicle sub-categories will be calculated, set by the Commission and published in April 2021, the Government proposes to retain the approach set out in the consultation. It will therefore adopt the published baselines as UK ones against which the 2025 and 2030 reductions targets will be measured.

However, the government agrees it would be useful to have a UK specific comparator and will work with vehicle manufacturers to establish how this could be achieved in the lead up to the publication of the EU baselines.

Baseline data reported by the UK to the European Commission in September 2020 under Part A of Annex 1 of 2018/956 as amended by 2019/888

The UK is required to report the 6 data fields set out in part A of annex 1 of 2018/956 (as amended by 2019/888) for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020 to the European Commission. All 6 data fields are recorded on the vehicle’s certificate of conformity but only the first 3 of these fields are currently held by DfT. The other 3 data fields are held by the vehicle manufacturers.

With the change of the reporting date moving to September 2020, as a consequence of article 19 of the CO2 emission performance standards regulation, the government proposed in the consultation document to require manufacturers to report the 6 data fields for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020 to the Secretary of State by 31 January 2021. This reporting provision would also require HDV manufacturers to continue to report all 6 fields to the Secretary of State annually commencing from September 2021.

There was strong opposition to this proposed reporting requirement from manufacturers. The reasons for this were:

1. Manufacturers would not hold the bodywork code for every vehicle that is subsequently registered, as commercial vehicles are often subject to multistage build processes. They estimate that up to 40% of UK heavy trucks are produced through multistage build processes, and as a result, the bodywork code for these vehicles will not be known by the base vehicle manufacturer. In such cases, the entity completing the build registers the Certificate of Conformity data with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Manufacturers, therefore, argued that the DVLA should collect the data by adapting the Register a Vehicle (RaV) system.

2. The proposal in the consultation would present a significant new administrative burden under the UK regulation that does not exist under the EU framework. It would add additional reporting requirements within the UK regulation which would significantly impact manufacturers internal IT systems. They argued it would also be very challenging to adopt such processes and systems before 1 January 2021.

Government response

The government understands these concerns and, in response, will change the approach. Instead of mandating manufacturers to provide the missing data, DfT will assemble the return from the best information held. The data held by DfT and its Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) is in different formats and is sorted for other purposes. However, we can respond to the majority of the EU’s requirements by transposing this already held information. This report to the EU is for this year only and, after that, it will cease to exist. A new proposal will be designed for the new UK-only reporting regime.

Reporting of data by manufacturers every year from September 2021

Article 19 of the EU CO2 emission performance standards regulation amends the monitoring and reporting regulations (EU 2018/956 as amended by 2019/888). This sets the future data reporting periods for manufacturers to report the required data to the European Commission from 1 July to 30 June each year, starting from 1 July 2020. As the transition period ends on 31 December 2020, the first of these reporting periods is, therefore, divided in two.

To resolve this inoperability, the consultation document proposed 3 options:

1. Shorten the first UK reporting year to instead cover 1 January to 30 June 2021 data

2. Extend the first reporting period to cover the period from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2022.

3. Retain the provisions as they stand but include an additional reporting provision amending regulation 2018/956 (as amended by Regulation 2019/888) to require reporting of data for the full reporting period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021 by HDV manufacturers to the Secretary of State. This was the preferred option.

Option 3 was overwhelmingly supported. There was also a call for clear guidance to be issued as soon as possible on the format of the UK report well ahead of reporting deadlines.

Government response

The government agrees with option 3 and will, therefore, amend the draft exit SI to reflect this preference.

For the UK report, it’s intended that the UK government follows the same reporting format and mechanisms as under the EU framework as far as possible, mirroring the processes used by the European Economic Area (EEA) to lessen administrative burdens. Reporting under the UK regime is being carefully considered and clarity given to industry as soon as possible.

The government has appointed the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) to operate as the UK’s national authority, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, under the proposed new UK HDV CO2 regulatory regime. As part of the set-up work with the VCA, operational guidance to support the new UK regime will be published before the regulations come into effect in January 2021.

Minor and technical changes

In the main, consultees agreed with or had no comments on these changes. One respondent had questions about Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 and Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 and how the government intends to incorporate Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation Tool (VECTO) certification into a UK framework following the end of the implementation period. They argued that the UK should continue to accept vehicle data based on EU type-approved VECTO inputs without the need for UK specific approved data files. They believe that a requirement for parallel UK approval for VECTO data files would be a significant administrative and logistical challenge for UK manufacturers and component/system suppliers.

Government response

Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 595/2009 will be the subject of separate EU exit legislation in early 2021 and this will extend to the requirements within Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.

The vast majority of vehicles sold in the UK will initially be on the basis of provisional approval and after 2 years’ full approval. Subject to consultation, both of these will accept an EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) until further notice. On this basis, we will accept the VECTO certification as set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 from an EU Type Approval Authority without the need for a UK specific calculation. For a full vehicle approval, VCA would seek to conduct ‘conformity of production’ against the original approval.

For any trucks sold solely in the UK, a UK approval will be needed, and the manufacturer will need to work with the VCA in order to gain VECTO certification following the requirements set out within the retained version of Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.

If in the future, there are any intentions to deviate from the method currently set out in EU legislation, that will become retained in UK law, then that would be consulted on in the normal way.

Annex 1

Organisations responding to the consultation

• Alexander Dennis
• European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association – ACEA
• Gasrec Ltd
• Leyland Trucks Ltd
• Logistics UK
• Road Haulage Association
• Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
• UPS
• Westport Fuel Systems
• Private individual
• Private individual

 

Footnotes

1. (EU) 2019/1242 which sets CO2 emission performance standards for new HDVs following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 July 2019. It came into force in the UK on 14 August 2019. ↩