Source: European Parliament
The CO2 emission standards for cars and vans Regulation[1] sets average fleet emission reduction targets, driving a gradual transition towards zero-emission mobility, and giving time to the industry to adapt.
As strongly requested by the industry, the regulation provides the option for manufacturers that may not be able to comply with the targets on their own, to pool with other manufacturers.
Pooling is not mandatory under the regulation, but is one option as part of manufacturers’ compliance strategy. When an agreement to form a pool is signed by the manufacturers involved, the appointed pool manager has to notify the Commission thereof.
The pooling agreements are private contracts between manufacturers and the Commission services are not informed about the detailed contents of those contracts, nor of any related financial arrangements.
The list of the pools established and their members is published each year by the Commission in the annual monitoring Decisions adopted under the regulation.
In the past few years, most of the pools solely consisted of connected undertakings (‘closed’ pools). The regulation does not, however, require manufacturers to report the specific place of production of individual vehicles put on the EU market.
In the Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector[2], the Commission sets out concrete measures to help secure global competitiveness of the European automotive industry and maintain a strong European production base.
The Plan notably highlights the need for a cost-competitive domestic battery cell production and supply chain and indicates that E uropean content requirements on battery cells and components in electric vehicles sold in the EU are to be addressed in upcoming legislation.