Environment Council, 20/12/2018, 20 December 2018

Main results

CO2 emission standards for trucks

Meeting in Brussels on 20 December, environment ministers reached an agreement on the proposed regulation on CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles. They agreed on the Council position on the text and set the first-ever EU targets for CO2 emissions of trucks.

From 2025 onwards, new trucks and buses will emit on average 15% less CO2. And from 2030, they will emit 30% less CO2. This is part of our efforts to decarbonize the road transport sector and an important step towards achieving the goals we have agreed under the Paris Agreement. The rules agreed today mean that between 2020 and 2030 we will emit 54 million tons of CO2 less, which corresponds to the total yearly CO2 emissions of Sweden. Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian federal minister of sustainability and tourism

The EU's long-term climate strategy

Environment ministers took the opportunity to have a first exchange of views on the new climate action strategy which the European Commission presented a month ago. Two of the eight scenarios proposed by the Commission spell out how the EU could reach net zero emissions by 2050.

LIFE programme

The Council reached a partial general approach on the regulation on LIFE which will ensure that the EU's flagship programme for environmental protection, climate action and the conservation of European wildlife species and habitats continues beyond 2020.

Other topics on the agenda

In a public session, the Council had the opportunity to hear a presentation by the Presidency on the directive on single-use plastics, the regulation on CO2 standards for cars and vans, the directive on drinking water, the regulation on persistent organic pollutants and the regulation on the alignment of reporting obligations.

• Commission's proposal on long-term climate strategy