- “Thank you very much for these questions. I take them one by one or bundle them together in some cases. Maybe first I start with the CO2 emission standards and the related reviews indeed. I start here with the review for cars and vans, which is foreseen for next year, but our latest internal planning is indeed, and I think this was already announced by the President, to advance this review to the end of this year. So the colleagues in DG Klima who are responsible for this file are currently working on an impact assessment. Indeed, as it was suggested by the honorable Member of Parliament Mr. Giseke, we would expect that there will be a kind of a Christmas present or so where probably you will have a package on greening corporate fleets because my personal expectation is that the Commission will make a proposal on this without at this point having clarity how this proposal would look like. Because, as you certainly know, from all the feedback which we have collected, it seems that national incentives or fiscal measures also seem to be probably the most powerful tool to do this. Therefore, obviously, probably an avenue to explore is indeed to see how Member States think they would want to go about that. But as I said, we are still in discussion inside the Commission to look into the different possible options for this greening corporate fleet proposal. Given that there is an inherent link obviously with the CO2 emission standards, also because obviously we need to fit into whatever changes the Commission may want to propose, I would expect that there will indeed be a package towards the end of the year comprising these two elements. This brings me to the second review, and this is the one linked to HDV, which, as you know, right now is only foreseen for 2027. Here, I must admit that I don't have any news to share because at this point in time no decision has been taken on the question whether we should also advance this review for CO2 emission standards for HDV from 2027 to 2026, for example, to bundle it with the AFIR review which is foreseen for 2026. Again, at this point in time, I am not in a position to give you any news on that, but clearly we will see how the discussion goes on cars and vans and then probably also take a decision when to put forward this second review on CO2 emission standards, which is currently scheduled for 2027. On the trailers, your second question, I must admit that I need to speak to the colleagues who are following this case. On that one, I would get back to you because I'm not able to provide you with any useful information at this stage. I think then there were a number of questions about our AFI targets and our AFI funding. On the AFI targets, indeed, this is only supposed to provide for a basic coverage along the TEN-T network, and we would expect indeed the private sector to come in. Let me first say a few words on AFIF. We are currently in the process of finalizing the discussion on the second cutoff. It seems that there will be reflows which would be available for a possible third call and cutoff in 2026. So I'm not as pessimistic probably as Mr. Tegatov may be, so there is possibly still the chance to have one more call to cover the funding gap. But it is also true that we are currently in discussion, for example, with the EIB on how to best support the sector, so infrastructure operators, because what we hear, and this is certainly not news to you, is that commercial banks often put high risk premium on projects related for HDV recharging infrastructure because the argument goes that there is no substantial fleet yet of vehicles and therefore consider some of these investments as high risk investments. Basically, to cut a long story short, we are currently in discussion with the EIB and other national promotional banks to see if and how we could support them in, for example, taking over some of the risks which they may not want to engage in. On the question then of the adjustment of the targets, I mean, as you can imagine, for the time being, AFIR says what it says. So it's a bit difficult to say we are no longer accepting or supporting any hydrogen related refueling infrastructure. But indeed, I think we will need to see as part of the review next year if there's not a need to revise the targets because if indeed we see that there's probably more to do on the battery electric vis a vis the hydrogen, it may then also trigger some adjustments. But as I said, this is probably a bit premature to go into this at this point in time. Maybe just one more point on recharging infrastructure. Besides the question of access to finance, what we hear is indeed the question of grid availability, in particular for HDV. As you know, they require a lot of power for recharging and therefore questions related to investment in grid modernization but also in terms of ensuring quicker permits and obviously quicker access. Basically, giving priority access to recharging infrastructure is something which we would want to put forward, possibly together with the colleagues of DG Energy in the forthcoming grid package. So that's, I think, what I would want to say. Last question on the Weights and Dimensions Directive. Here, I do not have a ready-made answer to your question. I see the point you're making because it is indeed true that electric trucks are much, much heavier. As I said, as a first step, we are now trying to help them support them by changing the Weights and Dimensions Directive, but indeed this obviously also has implications for the infrastructure. I think one of the issues is indeed then to see if and how we can support this because if indeed we see these figures to be confirmed, so four hundred thousand trucks by 2030 on our European road, it obviously will take a toll on the infrastructure. If I understood you correctly, but again, at this point in time, I'm not sure I have a good answer to your question. Thank you.”
Road transport environmental policy · EV charging infrastructure
- “conventional trucks, that this is because batteries are heavier and this means obviously less payload. The Weights and Dimensions Directive, which I think is also still in discussion in this institution, is adjusted to increase the maximum weight so that there is a better competitiveness of electric trucks. In terms of recharging points, what we expect are up to thirty thousand publicly accessible recharging points to be rolled out by 2030. This requires massive investments, but besides massive investments, one of the key issues, and we are looking into this currently with our colleagues from DG ENER, is in fact the availability or access to electric grids. This is in fact one of the issues which we think deserves primary attention. We are also looking now in terms of actions to support the rollout of zero emission vehicles and infrastructure together with our colleagues. You certainly know inside the Commission that we are preparing for the demand side for trucks a legislative proposal on greening corporate fleets, where we are currently carrying out an impact assessment on emissions, competitiveness on SMEs, and costs. This legislative proposal is supposed to come by the end of the year to this house for you then to deliberate on. On the infrastructure side, we are now going to focus more thoroughly in the future on recharging points with our AFIF, so the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility, to support financially the rollout of HDV recharging points. This is also backed up by our Clean Transport Corridor initiative, and you may know that a ministerial declaration has been signed last week to focus on a number of TEN-T corridors to support this rollout. As I mentioned before, together with DG Energy, we are working on the preparation of a grid package which is supposed to be adopted early next year to address permitting and grid access issues. To conclude from the technology side, we see that manufacturers are now producing zero emission vehicles for all use cases. We also expect that a big majority of zero emission heavy duty vehicles are expected to be battery electric by 2030 based on this report. Also, on infrastructure deployment for recharging and refueling, there will be support going forward to ensure that the basic framework conditions will be in place so that these trucks can also circulate across the EU. I stop here and I thank you for your attention.”
Road transport environmental policy · EV charging infrastructure · Energy (green transition)
- “Many, many thanks, Madam Chair. Thank you very much to the rapporteur for for his report and and his support, also thanking all the honourable members of Parliament for, for their amendments. I think there's not too much to say from our perspective. First of all, we agree with you that we need to have clarity in terms of rules, in terms of definitions. We need to have consistent and coherent rules also with the sectoral rules on passenger rights. Second, it is indeed our intention to improve the protection of passengers travelling with several transport modes, and I think this is now very important, especially those travelling with a single multimodal contract. These contracts presuppose Suppose an underlying agreement between the carriers involved to offer this journey under a single ticket, and therefore it can be assumed that also a full protection to passengers is offered in the event of a missed connection between transport modes in parallel. And this I also would like to underline. We also need to improve information rights, in particular for the category of what we call a combined but separate multimodal ticket, as there is no cooperation in place between the carriers involved to offer these tickets.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · EU support of rail transport · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Because this proposal on enforcement concerns all of these rules, including the one on multimodal. We very much. Are appreciated and are happy about your support on enforcement. We need basic rules on enforcement to ensure a level playing field, but it also means that we need the tools, both member states as well as the commission, to do their respective jobs on luggage. Just again, to stress, we very much agree with you that we need clearer rules. We, however, wonder whether this is the right place because in our view, regulation 1008 of 2008 on air services is, in our view, the right place to consider rules on luggage and in particular, article 23. Um, maybe 1 or 2 final remarks on, um, automatic compensation. I just wanted to highlight here that we have proposed, um, that information for passengers is made available in a digital way. So this is done, uh, automatically, including safeguards for people. Um, and we we are of the opinion that this should help to manage this aspect, um, more thoroughly. And last but not least, we have also proposed for reimbursement and compensation, um, a request for form as a fallback option in case requests cannot be made by passengers in through, electronically, through in an app or in a website of the carrier. I think I'll stop here. Thank you for your attention.”
Decarbonisation of aviation sector · EU Single Market harmonisation · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you very much, Chair, and good afternoon, honorable Members of Parliament. First of all, thank you for the invitation and the possibility to present to you the HDV Market Readiness Report. We adopted this report back in May, and basically the report follows up on the wish of this institution and the Council to get an interim assessment before we carry out in 2026 our review of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation. So this report is not about the question if the AFI targets need to be changed. This will be part of the impact assessment which we have started to work on, which will be linked to the review next year. This report looks at market trends on the one hand on the truck market, basically looking at how technologies are developing and how manufacturers plan to meet the CO2 emission standards. This is one element. Another element is to look at the numbers of zero emission vehicles to be expected for 2030. Then, second, as the Chair mentioned, it also provides some indications on our recharging and refueling needs and the related deployment of infrastructure. Now, let me first say a few words on the market trends. What we see here is that relevant technologies have matured at different speeds. We see a very strong investment and development in battery electric vehicles. For example, by the end of last year, we had more than one hundred battery electric models which were available in full series or in small series production for heavy duty vehicles. We also have seen some development in hydrogen, but here the numbers are much, much smaller. Right now, we have around twenty hydrogen fuel cell models available in this market segment, but only in very, very small series production. If we assess or analyze the announcement of manufacturers of future investments and their scale, our takeaway is that the focus also in HDV will be on battery electric vehicles throughout all market segments. There are a number of reasons which have been brought forward by the stakeholders, like higher efficiency, better fuel availability, and also better total cost ownership. Now, what does it mean? It means that by 2030, assuming that the current CO2 standards are going to be maintained, what we would need is around four hundred thousand zero emission heavy duty vehicles on European roads. We would then forecast around ninety percent of those would be battery electric. Now, as regards my second point on infrastructure, here just to say that the targets which have been set under the AFIR regulation are supposed to only provide for the necessary minimum network coverage. We obviously expect that also the private market investment in terms of infrastructure, so recharging pools for heavy duty vehicles, will develop, but clearly this is an issue to be looked at. My third point is quickly on what are the main challenges which have been highlighted here. The first one is, as regards trucks, we obviously still see significant differences when a truck is purchased, and obviously conventional trucks are much, much cheaper than electric trucks. Having said that, as you probably know, because these proposals are currently with you, the Commission has also put forward measures to support the rollout of electric trucks. For example, among others, the possibility to exempt such zero emission vehicles from tolls under the Euro Vignette Directive up until 2031, and also to ensure that the competitive disadvantage which these trucks have vis a vis”
Road transport environmental policy · EV charging infrastructure
- “Passengers should get information on the type of protection they enjoy for these tickets. Given the lack of cooperation between carriers, it cannot be expected from those selling these combined tickets to assume full Liability towards passengers. And this is in particular true. Um, for intermediaries, because these are mostly small and medium sized enterprises, obliging them to offer this liability would be detrimental to the development of the market for combined tickets. And I think this is indeed our joint objective here, because we want this market for such tickets to evolve. And the last word from my side, just to underline, because this has come up, we will indeed table um proposal, um, probably towards the end of the year on single digital booking mdms and the related passenger rights. Um, and just to reassure you that this proposal will obviously build on what we have already established in terms of rules for passenger rights. So there is going to be a consistency between what we are discussing here and today, and what you will see tabled by the Commission by the end of the year. Thank you very much.”
Interoperability requirements for digital platforms · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you. Thank you. Chair. Thank you. To the to the rapporteurs. And obviously thank you to the honorable Members of Parliament for all the work which has been done. Um, maybe just a few remarks. First, on the air passenger rights, because you have touched on on this in your in your interventions. What I can say here today is that the Commission obviously supports the relaunch of the discussions on this proposal, which was dormant for far too long. This has been mentioned. Um, we also think the proposal of the commission, despite it being quite old, is still, um, a fit for purpose and is is needs to be seen in complementary with, with the other two proposals which you are discussing today. Um, from our perspective, the objective must be to ensure, on the one hand, effective protection of passenger rights as well. On the other hand, sufficient operational and financial flexibility to air carriers. And in order to achieve this, we encourage both Council and the European Parliament to conduct negotiations on this proposal in a manner that it maximizes the chances of reaching a balanced and reasonable compromise. Now, let me move on to the omnibus enforcement proposal, because this was the second item which was raised very, very briefly, just to underline here the need for clarity and coherence between the rules and definitions, which are specified here and and in the sectoral rules on passenger rights.”
Road transport environmental policy · Decarbonisation of aviation sector · Decarbonisation of maritime transport