Clean Vehicles Directive

Briefing 29-05-2017

According to a recent evaluation of the Clean Vehicles Directive performed by the European Commission, the directive seems to raise concerns about whether the incentives included in it actually reach their intended aim, notably to increase the demand for and deployment of cleaner vehicles. Indeed, performing the evaluation was a complicated task, due to the significant data gaps that were found. This was particularly true when evaluating the implementation of the directive and its associated impacts, notably due to the lack of structural monitoring at EU or Member State level and the limited amount of published research and stakeholder positions available. Yet, regardless of the insufficient data, the directive appears to have had little impact with regard to incentivising a market uptake of clean vehicles and has therefore had a very limited impact on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants emitted from publicly procured vehicles. Ultimately, the Commission decided to revise rather than withdraw the directive, In this review process, the Commission would ensure that some appropriate reporting requirements are included in the directive. In addition, as there appear to be some barriers to the use of the monetisation methodology, the Commission would be able to consider to further develop the information available on the Clean Vehicle Portal and to provide contracting authorities with further guidance. Finally, the scope could be improved for making the directive more effective and efficient.