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Document 52025PC0348
Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 1999/62/EC as regards the extension of the period in which zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles can benefit from significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or from exemptions to pay them
Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 1999/62/EC as regards the extension of the period in which zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles can benefit from significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or from exemptions to pay them
Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 1999/62/EC as regards the extension of the period in which zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles can benefit from significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or from exemptions to pay them
COM/2025/348 final
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels, 27.6.2025
COM(2025) 348 final
2025/0188(COD)
Proposal for a
DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
amending Directive 1999/62/EC as regards the extension of the period in which zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles can benefit from significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or from exemptions to pay them
(Text with EEA relevance)
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
The Competitiveness Compass 1 is guiding the economic policy of the Commission in the current mandate. It builds on the European Council’s Budapest Declaration 2 and the Antwerp Declaration 3 of European business and trade union representatives. The Competitiveness Compass defines a joint roadmap for decarbonisation and competitiveness as one of three transformational imperatives to boost competitiveness.
This imperative is developed in the Clean Industrial Deal 4 . It aims to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness while remaining on track to achieve climate neutrality. The focus is on supporting and creating the right conditions for companies to achieve this goal. It also aims to increase the EU’s economic and energy security by decreasing its dependence on imported fossil fuels and increasing the share of energy produced from decarbonised generation within the EU.
The Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal pay particular attention to the automotive sector. This sector is undergoing a profound and transformative shift, driven by technological changes such as digitalisation and decarbonisation. With this in mind, the Commission has adopted an Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector 5 .
These three strategies identify decarbonisation as a powerful driver of growth and put forward concrete measures to provide EU industries with a stronger business case for clean production. The action plan contains specific incentives to boost the uptake of zero-emission vehicles, including heavy-duty vehicles.
In 2022, the heavy-duty road transport sector caused 27.5% of road transport CO2 emissions 6 despite making up only 2.4% of the vehicle fleet 7 . CO2 emissions in the heavy-duty road transport sector accounted for more than 6.9% of all emissions in the EU and were 20% higher than in 1995.
Road freight transport is a ‘hard-to-abate sector’, meaning that the cost of reducing its emissions is higher than in other economy sectors. Furthermore, the market of road freight transport services is highly competitive and is characterised by low profit margins, which constrain investment in expensive abatement technologies such as zero-emission vehicles.
Innovation from heavy-duty vehicles manufacturers has in recent years led to the roll-out of zero-emission models that cover all use cases, including long-haul 8 . Their deployment has increased substantially since 2019 9 . In 2024, 3.9% of all new heavy-duty vehicles were zero-emission vehicles 10 , including 1.2% of new heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 12 tonnes. However, the share of zero-emission vehicles in the heavy-duty vehicle fleet remains extremely low 11 .
The 2025 CO2 reduction target for heavy-duty vehicles of 15% compared with 2019 values 12 can be achieved through efficiency improvements in conventional vehicles, but the deployment of zero-emission vehicles must rapidly increase to achieve subsequent targets 13 . However, the upfront investment for acquiring a zero-emission vehicle is approximately 2.5 times higher than the cost of equivalent conventional vehicles 14 and remains one of the main barriers to their wider deployment.
Unlike the market for passenger cars, the market for heavy-duty vehicles is a business-to-business market. Investment choices are driven by a vehicle’s cost over its entire lifetime. This is known as the total cost of ownership 15 (TCO). The market for heavy-duty vehicles is price sensitive. This means that the purchase decision of operators when investing in a new vehicle is likely to be driven by the vehicle’s TCO. In other words, operators will have a business case to invest in a zero-emission vehicle once its cost becomes lower than the cost of a conventional vehicle powered by fossil fuels.
Differentiated road charges may reduce operational costs and therefore the TCO of zero-emission vehicles. They can thus help to build a stronger business case for investing in those vehicles.
Directive (EU) 2022/362 16 enabled road charging 17 on the basis of CO2 emissions. Directive (EU) 2022/362 amended Directive 1999/62/EC 18 by providing, among other changes, for the variation of infrastructure and user charges (favouring the deployment of cleaner vehicles) and/or for the internalisation of external costs of CO2 (penalising vehicles that are more polluting). Both measures reduce the gap between the TCO of conventional vehicles and the TCO of zero-emission vehicles.
Variation of road charges consists in granting a 50% to 75% reduction in infrastructure or user charges for zero-emission vehicles 19 . The external-cost charge adds the external cost for traffic-based CO2 emissions to the infrastructure charge. The Directive provides for reference values for this charge, based on a CO2 price of EUR 100 per tonne of CO2 emitted 20 .
The Directive further strengthens those two mechanisms by allowing Member States to set greatly reduced rates or even grant a full exemption for zero-emission vehicles from the infrastructure or user charge until 31 December 2025 21 . It also allows Member States to apply higher external-cost charges for traffic-based CO2 emissions up to twice the reference values of the Directive 22 .
The monetary support in a Member State that makes full use of these provisions to incentivise an operator to invest in a zero-emission motor vehicle that can weigh up to 40 tonnes is estimated to be as high as EUR 45 000 in the first year of operation 23 . Smaller vehicles receive a lower level of support. For some use cases, the Directive helps to achieve cost parity between zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles and conventional vehicles 24 .
The transposition of these provisions into national legislation was due to be completed by 25 March 2024. The option of applying significantly reduced rates to zero-emission vehicles or exempting them from infrastructure or user charges is due to end on 31 December 2025. This period is too short to sufficiently incentivise demand for new zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles.
The Commission therefore proposes to extend the applicability of this exemption. To support European manufacturers in achieving their target of reducing CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles by 43% in the 2030 reporting period (as laid down in Regulation (EU) 2019/1242), the Commission proposes that the exemption should be extended until the end of the 2030 reporting period, which ends on 30 June 2031. This change would ensure a coherent legislative framework.
The current exemption is due to end on 31 December 2025 and national authorities would have to transpose the provisions of the currently proposed Directive into national law. The Commission is therefore inviting the European Parliament and Council to consider fast-tracking the adoption of this proposal.
•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
This proposal would prolong an existing provision that has been recently introduced and is therefore consistent with the existing policy framework on road charging. Where implemented, this provision had a positive impact on creating a business case for zero-emission vehicles. The exemption from infrastructure or user charges complements the application of external-cost charges because both measures reduce the gap between the operational costs and thus between the TCOs of zero-emission and conventional vehicles. Both measures are therefore important in strengthening the business case for investment in zero-emission vehicles.
•Consistency with other Union policies
This proposal extends a measure on the demand side of the market for new heavy-duty vehicles in order to accelerate their deployment. It therefore complements the CO2 emission performance standards of the Heavy-duty Vehicles Regulation 25 , which acts on the supply side of the market for new heavy-duty vehicles, and which sets out a 43% CO2 reduction target for manufacturers by 2030 (and subsequent higher targets until 2040). Manufacturers can achieve the targets by (i) improving the efficiency of conventional vehicles; and/or (ii) increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles that they put on the market. This proposal helps manufacturers ramp up the deployment of zero-emission vehicles.
The internalisation of the cost of carbon reduces the gap in the TCO between cleaner vehicles and more polluting vehicles by increasing the operational costs of conventional vehicles. Directive 1999/62/EC internalises the cost of carbon by imposing an external-cost charge. From 2027, road transport emissions will also be covered by the emission trading system in Directive 2003/87/EC (ETS2) 26 . The consistency between those two measures will be the subject of a report from the Commission that will be presented by 2027, in accordance with Articles 7cb(4) and 7ga(8) of Directive 1999/62/EC. The assessment will also address the effect of energy taxation on carbon pricing, as regulated under Council Directive 2003/96/EC 27 .
Recharging infrastructure is an enabling condition for the faster deployment of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles. The recently revised TEN-T Regulation 28 and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation 29 set targets for the deployment of recharging and hydrogen refuelling stations, including specific targets for heavy-duty transport. Furthermore, the industrial action plan for the EU’s automotive sector stated that the Commission will work on European Clean Transport Corridors in order to fast-track the deployment of heavy-duty vehicle charging hubs. It also stated that additional proposals will be made in the upcoming Sustainable Transport Investment Plan.
In order to reduce CO2 emissions, it is essential to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy became the leading source of electricity production in the EU in 2023 30 . However, expanding the electricity grid infrastructure is equally important to support this transition. Grid connections are crucial for the deployment of the recharging infrastructure for heavy-duty transport. Several actions are already planned under the EU Action Plan for Grids 31 and this will also be supplemented by the Grid Package and the Electrification Action Plan. The Commission will issue Guidance and Recommendations to the Member States on shortening the waiting time for recharging points’ connections to grids and their priority treatment and will recommend that Member States consider that charging stations and their connection to the grid are in the overriding public interest in the context of permitting procedures.
2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
•Legal basis
The legal bases of Directive 1999/62/EC are Articles 91 and 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This proposal pertains to the imposition of road charges on vehicles, an area to which Article 91(1) TFEU applies. The legal basis of this proposal is therefore Article 91(1) TFEU.
•Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The EU shares competence with Member States to regulate in the field of transport pursuant to Article 4(2)(g) TFEU, but only the EU can adapt the existing EU rules. Directive 1999/62/EC defines the cases in which reductions or exemptions from tolls and user charges may be granted. National authorities have discretion in deciding how to use those possibilities. The significantly reduced rates or exemption for zero-emission vehicles from infrastructure or user charges can only be extended beyond the end of 2025 by amending the Directive. The choice of whether to make use of this possibility or not lies with the national authorities.
•Proportionality
The proposed measures do not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the EU’s objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while also ensuring fairness and environmental integrity.
•Choice of the instrument
The legal act to be amended is a Directive, so the amending act should take the same form.
3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
•Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
The short time that has elapsed since the new rules had to be implemented (i.e. 25 March 2024) means that there is not sufficient information for a fully-fledged ex post evaluation of Directive (EU) 2022/362. Moreover, this proposal would merely extend a provision that already exists.
•Stakeholder consultations
While preparing this proposal, the Commission held targeted consultations with specific stakeholders, including transport operators’ and vehicle manufacturers’ associations, civil society and national authorities.
•Collection and use of expertise
The Commission has relied on publicly available information to assess both the current level of deployment of zero-emission vehicles and the effectiveness of the exemption from infrastructure or user charges. All sources used by the Commission are available in the footnotes to the text in Section 1 above.
•Impact assessment
The Commission conducted an impact assessment accompanying the proposal which led to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2022/362 32 . The current proposal only amends the end date of an optional provision. There is therefore no need to conduct a new impact assessment.
•Regulatory fitness and simplification
This proposal would merely change a date and therefore does not have any consequences for the simplification of EU law.
• Fundamental rights
The proposal respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
4.BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The extension of the exemption from infrastructure or user charges has no implications for the EU’s budget.
The Directive’s provisions would have different implications for national budgets depending on the Member States’ individual implementation strategies. Reducing or exempting cleaner vehicles from road charges may negatively impact revenues and therefore national budgets unless the average rate for other vehicles is increased 33 . Conversely, external-cost charges generate revenue and positively impact national budgets. The Directive offers three options to Member States, which may implement:
road charge reductions or exemptions in order to incentivise investment in cleaner vehicles;
external-costs charges in order to factor those external costs into the investment decisions of the private sector;
both these instruments simultaneously in order to maximise the reduction in the TCO gap between conventional vehicles and zero-emission vehicles.
In the short and medium terms (i.e. the temporal scope of this proposal), the potential negative effect of road charges reductions on national budgets can be expected to be less than the positive effect of external-cost charges. The reason is that today zero-emission vehicles are still a very small part of the vehicle fleet 34 and by 2030 they are expected to be 5% to 9% of the heavy-duty vehicle fleet 35 . Accordingly, if both instruments are applied simultaneously, the revenues from external-cost charges can be expected to be greater than the foregone revenues of road charges reductions or exemptions. The use of the revenues generated by road charges (infrastructure or user charges) and by external-cost charges is regulated under Article 9(2) of Directive 1999/62/EC.
5.OTHER ELEMENTS
•Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
Article 11 of Directive 1999/62/EC sets a five-yearly reporting obligation. The latest deadline was 25 March 2025, and the next deadline will be 25 March 2030. Article 11(2)(c) requires reporting on ‘the variation of infrastructure charges or user charges according to the environmental performance of vehicles, pursuant to Article 7g, 7ga or 7gb;’. The next deadline is before the proposed end date of the exemption and will therefore be appropriate for assessing its implementation. No additional reporting obligation is therefore planned.
•Explanatory documents (for directives)
This proposal would prolong an existing optional provision, so no explanatory document is required. Member States that use this option should nevertheless inform the Commission.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
Article 1 amends the fifth subparagraph of Article 7ga(1) of Directive 1999/62/EC by extending the exemption laid down in that provision until 30 June 2031.
Article 2 requires Member States to immediately inform the Commission of measures taken pursuant to this Directive.
Article 3 sets the date of entry into force of the Directive.
Article 4 specifies that the Directive is addressed to the Member States.
2025/0188 (COD)
Proposal for a
DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
amending Directive 1999/62/EC as regards the extension of the period in which zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles can benefit from significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or from exemptions to pay them
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee 36 ,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions 37 ,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
Whereas:
(1)The registration figures of new zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles have recently increased in the Union but remain too low to achieve the CO2 emission reduction targets of the transport sector set in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 38 . One of the main barriers to wider deployment of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles is the high upfront cost of acquiring such a vehicle. Securing a stronger business case for investing in zero-emission vehicles means working towards cost parity with conventional vehicles. The total cost of ownership consists of the upfront investment made to acquire the vehicle and the operational costs incurred during the vehicle’s lifetime. The gap of the total cost of ownership between conventional and zero-emission vehicles can be reduced by lowering the operational costs of zero-emission vehicles. Those costs include road charges.
(2)Directive (EU) 2022/362 of the European Parliament and of the Council 39 amended Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 40 by, among other changes, making it possible to set road charges according to vehicles’ CO2 emissions. It introduced the possibility to vary infrastructure and user charges and/or to internalise the external costs of CO2 emissions. Both measures affect the operational costs of vehicles. The variation of charges decreases the operational costs of less-polluting vehicles, while external-cost charges increase the operational costs of more-polluting vehicles. Both measures reduce the gap in the total cost of ownership between zero-emission and conventional vehicles. Both measures are important to strengthening the business case for investing in zero-emission vehicles.
(3)Article 7ga(1), fifth subparagraph, of Directive 1999/62/EC currently gives Member States the possibility to apply reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges without putting any ceiling on such reductions, or to apply full exemptions from such charges, only until 31 December 2025. Member States were required to transpose that provision, introduced by Directive (EU) 2022/362, into national laws by 25 March 2024. That end date for transposition implies a very short implementation period of less than two years. That period is too short to meaningfully incentivise the demand of new zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles. Therefore that end date should be postponed in order to create the right conditions for the wider deployment of zero-emission vehicles.
(4)The variation of road charges affects investment decisions of transport operators acquiring a new vehicle. It therefore has an effect on the demand side of the market for new heavy-duty vehicles. Heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers constitute the supply side of the same market. They have a CO2 emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council 41 . While efficient conventional vehicles also contribute to the achievement of this target, the wider deployment of zero-emission vehicles is necessary in order to achieve it. The first year when manufacturers are to achieve that target is the reporting period 2030, with a deadline of 30 June 2031.
(5)To ensure a clear and coherent legal framework and to support Union companies in the automotive sector in achieving their CO2 emissions reduction targets, the timing of the measures on the demand and supply side of the market of heavy-duty vehicles should be aligned. The end date until when it is possible for Member States to apply significantly reduced rates of infrastructure or user charges or to exempt zero-emission vehicles from such charges should therefore be postponed until 30 June 2031.
(6)The optional nature of the amended provision means that Member States are not obliged to transpose this Directive. They should nevertheless immediately inform the Commission if they use the option to grant zero-emission vehicles significantly reduced rates of infrastructure and user charges or exemptions to pay them after 31 December 2025,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
In of Article 7ga(1), fifth subparagraph, of Directive 1999/62/EC, the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by ‘30 June 2031’, and the date ‘1 January 2026’ is replaced by ‘1 July 2031’.
Article 2
Member States shall immediately inform the Commission of measures taken pursuant to this Directive.
Article 3
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 4
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels,
For the European Parliament For the Council
The President The President
Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and amending Regulations (EC) No 595/2009 and (EU) 2018/956 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/53/EC (OJ L 198, 25.7.2019, p. 202, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1242/oj ).