Briefing

Collusion to weaken fuel economy regulations

July 8, 2015

The current system for testing car CO2 emissions and fuel economy, the NEDC, is obsolete. Thankfully, a new test, the WLTP, is scheduled to replace the NEDC in 2017. To do this, the average CO2 emissions target for cars (95 g/km for 2020/1) needs to be revised in a way that maintains “equivalent stringency” between the tests.

The European Commission is developing a simulation tool, in the form of a computer model, for the WLTP. However, major carmakers and the countries that house them are trying to ensure this new tool contains the same loopholes and manipulations that made the NEDC such a flawed test. The Commission is meeting Member States and key stakeholders on the 9 July. This briefing is designed to alert stakeholders, citizens, and the media to the nature of these “behind closed doors” discussions.

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