The European Union has given the green light to a temporary adjustment in the way of meeting CO2 emissions reduction targets for trucks and buses, with an eye toward 2030. The move does not lower the climate goals set for manufacturers, but it does give them more leeway to organize the pace at which they cut emissions from their new fleets.
From Brussels and the European Commission It is emphasized that this modification responds to the structural obstacles that the sector facesIn particular, the still insufficient deployment of charging and refueling points for heavy goods vehicles along major European routes. Member States, through the Council of the EU, have endorsed the proposal without changes, marking a new stage in the decarbonization policy for road transport.
Climate targets for heavy goods vehicles in the European Union
The European regulatory framework establishes that the new trucks, buses and coaches They will have to reduce the average CO2 emissions of their fleets by 15% from 2025, using current levels as a baseline. This first stage marks the start of the mandatory decarbonization effort for heavy vehicle manufacturers.
Looking ahead to 2030, the required reduction will be significantly greater: a 43% reduction in emissions with respect to the baseline. This intermediate leap is considered key to guiding the sector towards the underlying target set for 2040, when a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions from these types of new vehicles is expected.
This timetable aims to align heavy goods transport with the climate neutrality path set by the EU. It is no coincidence that trucks, buses, and coaches are responsible for around a quarter of emissions of road transport in the European Union, a burden that requires firm action if the European Green Deal is to be fulfilled.
In this context, European institutions maintain that keeping the numerical targets is essential to send a clear signal to the industry, even if specific adjustments are made to the methods for achieving those percentages. Therefore, the approved reform has focused on compliance mechanisms, without altering the final objectives.
Emissions credits and new flexibility until 2030
The heart of the approved change lies in the system of emissions credits which was already contemplated in the regulations. This mechanism allows manufacturers to obtain a kind of "compliance points" when the actual emissions of their new fleets fall below the reduction trajectory foreseen in the legislation.
Until now, this reduction path was understood in a rather linear way: brands had to progressively and consistently reduce emissions, year after year, to stay on track. With the revision recently endorsed by the Council and Parliament, manufacturers will be allowed to... accumulate credits between 2025 and 2029 without needing to follow that linear curve to the letter.
In practice, this means that builders who succeed greater reductions in certain years They will be able to "save" those credits to compensate for possible imbalances at other times in the period prior to 2030. The pace is made more flexible, but not the magnitude of the effort that must be reflected in 2030.
The EU Council stresses that this dose of flexibility is temporary and specificand is designed to expedite the arrival of zero-emission truck and bus models to the market. The underlying political objective is to accelerate the initial deployment of these technologies, even though the sector does not yet have all the necessary infrastructure.
According to the official statement, this reconfiguration of the credit calculation should facilitate compliance from 2030 onwardsThis is because manufacturers who get ahead and invest early in zero-emission heavy vehicles will have an additional cushion in the form of accumulated emission allowances.
Which vehicles are included and excluded from the new scheme?
The updated mechanism applies specifically to the heavy trucks over 16 tons This includes certain categories of buses whose weight exceeds 7,5 tons. These are generally vehicles dedicated to long-distance freight transport and intercity or medium- and long-distance passenger transport services.
On the contrary, buses are expressly excluded Brussels argues that, in urban areas, the deployment of zero-emission buses is already quite advanced and depends less on charging infrastructure on highways or long-distance corridors.
In many European urban centers, and also in several Spanish cities, municipal fleets have been incorporating for years electric or hydrogen busessupported by charging and refueling networks that are easier to plan locally. Therefore, the EU considers that this segment does not require the same flexible treatment as long-haul heavy goods transport.
The distinction between these vehicles reflects the extent to which European climate policies must adapt to very different operational realities within road transport itself. Electrifying urban routes with short journeys is not the same as transforming international heavy goods transport across several countries.
Lack of infrastructure and comparison with passenger cars
Among the reasons that have led the EU to introduce this measure, one of the most frequently cited is the slow rollout of public charging infrastructure and specific refueling stations for heavy vehicles. These include both high-power chargers for electric trucks and green hydrogen refueling points. advanced biofuels.
European motorways and highways are still far from offering a homogeneous network of services adapted to these vehicles, which makes it difficult for transport companies to undertake a massive fleet renewal. Without such a network, the zero-emission trucks They run the risk of being limited to specific routes or highly planned operations.
The decision to make the credit system more flexible is reminiscent, according to the Council itself, of the strategy previously followed with car manufacturers. In the case of tourismThe European Commission also initially accepted a more gradual adaptation path before tightening the timetable and later introducing changes such as lifting the absolute ban on combustion engines from 2035 under certain conditions.
This parallel illustrates how Brussels is trying balancing climate ambition with the current industrial and technological reality. In the case of cars, the mass adoption of electric vehicles and the expansion of charging points have progressed faster than expected in some countries, while in heavy transport the pace is much slower.
For Spain and other Member States where road transport plays a significant role in their economies, this flexibility can be interpreted as a way to to gain time to adapt infrastructure and logistics chainswithout backing down on climate commitments already made.
Review in 2027 and next steps for European policy
The updated regulations keep the commitment to review the rules in 2027That will be a key moment to assess whether the combination of ambitious targets and flexibility in the credit system is yielding the expected results in reducing emissions from heavy goods vehicles.
By then, European institutions will have more robust data on the actual penetration of zero-emission trucks and buses in the market, as well as on the degree of infrastructure deployment in strategic freight and passenger corridors, including those crossing the Iberian Peninsula.
Brussels will also have to assess how manufacturers and transport companies have reacted to this additional margin. Whether this flexibility translates into a early acceleration of investments And with a noticeable increase in clean vehicles on the road, the EU is likely to maintain or even strengthen its 2040 targets.
In parallel, Member States will continue to develop national plans to install charging and refueling points for heavy goods vehicles, taking advantage of European funds and specific programs. In countries like Spain, these efforts overlap with existing strategies for boost to renewable hydrogen already the electrification of heavy transport and large fleets of intercity buses.
With all this network of objectives, credit mechanisms and announced revisions, European regulations for trucks and buses are entering a phase in which Climate requirements are not being loweredHowever, the timelines and tools are being adjusted to make them viable. The key, from now on, will be to see if this increased flexibility truly accelerates the transition to zero-emission heavy goods vehicles in Spain and across the European Union.
