Together with ACEA, Hydrogen Europe and T&E, AVERE writes a joint letter to stress the need for the EU 27 Member States to swiftly adopt a General Approach on the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive as soon as possible.
Open letter - Call for Swift Adoption of General Approach on the Weights and Dimensions Directive to Foster Market Uptake of Zero-Emission Trucks
Dear Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union,
Dear Transport Ministers of the EU 27 Member States,
Dear Deputy Ambassadors of the EU 27 Member States,
Dear Land Transport Attachés of the EU 27 Member States,
We hope this letter finds you well. As representatives of ACEA, AVERE, Hydrogen Europe and Transport & Environment, we are writing to stress the need for the EU 27 Member States to swiftly adopt a General Approach on the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive as soon as possible.
The revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive is indispensable to enabling the market uptake of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, which in the first half of 2024 accounted for 1.9% of new truck registrations in the EU 1 . To meet the recently adopted CO2 regulation targets for heavy-duty vehicles at least 1/3 of all new truck registrations will have to be zero emission by 2030. Against this background, the revision of the Weights & Dimensions Directive must focus on levelling the playing field for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles by giving them full access to the road network across the territory of the European Union, as well as ensuring additional weight allowances and other necessary adjustments are granted to zero-emission motor vehicles while limiting the overall impact on road wear as much as possible.
We therefore call on the Council to swiftly adopt an enabling General Approach by the end of 2024, ensuring consistency with previously adopted EU legislation,so that the interinstitutional negotiations can start as soon as possible with final agreement as early as possible in 2025.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your support in expediting the revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive and facilitating the decarbonisation of heavy-duty road transport.