The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has welcomed the endorsement of the CountEmissions EU report by the European Parliament’s plenary. The adopted text adds clarity on the steps that road transport companies are expected to take in order to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Parliament has adopted the CountEmissions EU report jointly produced by its environment and transport committees. The vote confirms that only companies that are already reporting, or are legally bound to, should adhere to the provisions set out in the regulation.
IRU particularly welcomes the additional clarity and practical adjustments provided in the adopted text, aimed at easing small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) reporting obligations and fostering a fair and uniform application of the regulation across all transport modes.
Key highlights from the European Parliament’s position include:
- Recognition of industry specificities: The adopted text allows SMEs subcontracted by larger companies to use secondary data for reporting purposes.
- Flexibility for SMEs: SMEs remain exempt from the verification requirement of the data they generate, significantly reducing their administrative load.
- Verification and clarity: Companies falling under the regulation’s scope will undergo an annual verification of their output data, offering them a clear expectation of compliance requirement.
IRU EU Advocacy Director Raluca Marian said, “The Parliament understood the need to clarify certain aspects of the proposal by, for example, setting concrete deadlines for the establishment of the two EU databases that are needed to fulfil the condition to use secondary data.”
Another positive element is the possibility for transport companies to refer to other databases until the core EU database of default values for GHG emissions intensity and the central EU database of default GHG factors are set up.
“Importantly, the Parliament followed the Council in confirming the ISO 14083 standard as the reference methodology. IRU is in favour of a full life-cycle approach as it is more comprehensive than the well-to-wheel methodology. However, within the CountEmissions EU regulatory context and given its complexities, it should only be considered at a later stage and only if this is done in parallel with the ISO standard,” Raluca Marian concluded.
IRU looks forward to the opening of trilogue negotiations in autumn, anticipating a swift progression to finalising the CountEmissions EU framework.
