The new EU regulation on CO₂ emissions from cars and how it impacts carbon targets in Germany’s transport sector

This paper assesses the Commission proposal for post-2020 CO₂ targets for cars, which was presented in November 2017. The proposal sets new CO₂ emission standards for the period from 2021 to 2030. This analysis shows that by themselves, the EU Commission’s proposed fleet targets would only serve to reduce car CO₂ emissions in Germany by 3.5 million tonnes. In order to meet the transport sector targets in Germany’s Climate Action Plan 2050, it would then be necessary to ensure further emissions reductions of 44.7 million tonnes of CO₂.

The study also assesses two possible variations on the proposal: “Pro Climate” and “Pro Climate Plus”, both of which would help to further close the gap to meeting the German transport target.

The analysis shows that the German transport target for 2030 requires that Germany supports a more ambitious regulation at EU-level.