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In July 2023, the European Commission tabled a package of three proposals for the greening of freight transport. Among them is a proposal for a single methodology for calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport services, referred to as CountEmissionsEU. The initiative covers both freight and passenger transport. It aims to ensure that the GHG emissions data provided regarding transport services are reliable and accurate, to allow fair comparison between transport services. It establishes ...

Fit for 55 package

Briefing 06-03-2024

The 'fit for 55' package of July and December 2021 was designed to realise the European Climate Law objectives: climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55 % reduction of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. It consisted of 13 interlinked proposals to revise existing EU climate and energy laws, and six new legislative proposals. All proposals, except the Energy Taxation Directive, have been adopted or agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The package ...

The European Green Deal envisages a review of measures addressing pollution from large industrial installations, with a view to aligning existing legislation with the EU's zero pollution ambition, and energy, climate and circular economy policy goals. On 5 April 2022, the European Commission tabled a proposal to revise the Industrial Emissions Directive, the main European Union instrument regulating pollutant emissions from industry, together with a proposal to revise the Regulation establishing ...

On 30 November 2022, as part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission presented the legislative proposal for a Union certification framework for carbon removals. The initiative was first announced in the March 2020 new circular economy action plan and again highlighted in the climate target plan, as well as in the proposed 'fit for 55' revision of the regulation on land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), as an essential tool to drive progress towards the 2050 climate neutrality ...

The impact assessment (IA) provides a useful information package supporting the 'CountEmissionsEU' proposal. It presents a substantiated problem definition and illustrates the scale of the problems. The analysis relies on an external IA supporting study, stakeholder consultation and independent research. The IA assesses the economic, social and environmental impacts of all six policy options. It openly explains the assessment's limitations, in particular the fact that empirical evidence to underpin ...

Revision of the Ozone Regulation

Briefing 12-12-2023

Stratospheric ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun and reduces the overall amount of radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are human-made chemicals that, once emitted, reach the upper atmosphere and destroy the protective ozone layer, causing what is known as the ozone hole. They have significant adverse impacts on human health and the environment and are also greenhouse gases with high global warming potential. Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 on substances ...

Council Directive 92/106/EEC (the 'Combined Transport Directive') is one of the key EU legal instruments aimed at promoting the shift of freight from road to lower-emission transport modes. It supports the uptake of transport operations that combine road – on one or both ends of a journey – with rail or waterways, by providing advantages such as exemptions from restrictions (on weights and dimensions of vehicles or circulation) and tax reductions. The directive contributed to the development of the ...

On 5 April 2022, the Commission presented a proposal for a regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases that would repeal Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. The proposal is amongst the last from the 'fit for 55' package, aiming to align EU climate and energy laws with the EU Climate Law's 2030 target. The proposal aims to further reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases). It would change the existing quota system, gradually reducing the supply of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) to the EU market ...

Revised Energy Efficiency Directive

At a Glance 10-10-2023

The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) sets a more ambitious binding annual target for reducing energy use at EU level. Energy-saving measures will contribute to reaching the EU target of a net 55 % reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, as a stepping stone towards reaching climate neutrality by 2050.

Under the European Green Deal, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a recast of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive in October 2022. Dating back to 1991, and instrumental to the achievement of European Union water policy objectives, the directive needs to be updated and adapted to new challenges and realities. The recast proposal would introduce new obligations to better control pollution due to rainwater, impose stricter standards for nutrient removal and require advanced treatment ...