Clean Road Vehicles - Lifetime Costs In Public Procurement Agreed

Recent announcements of President Obama requesting an urgent

review of a policy preventing US states from imposing stricter

vehicle emissions standards and the ordering of the enforcement of

existing fuel-efficiency law co-incide with continued EU efforts to

spearhead transport targeted regulation in order to effect change.

This update relates to specific changes in public purchasing of

road transport vehicles.

In July 2008 we provided details of the European

Commission's (the "Commission") revised proposal for

a Directive on the Promotion of Clean and Energy Efficient Road

Transport Vehicles (COM(2007)817) (see link to previous article

here). The revised proposal aimed to introduce energy

consumption, CO2 and pollutant emissions as mandatory award

criteria in the costs of the public purchasing of road transport

vehicles.

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below:

Full Article

Recent announcements of President Obama requesting an urgent

review of a policy preventing US states from imposing stricter

vehicle emissions standards and the ordering of the enforcement of

existing fuel-efficiency law co-incide with continued EU efforts to

spearhead transport targeted regulation in order to effect change.

This update relates to specific changes in public purchasing of

road transport vehicles.

In July 2008 we provided details of the European

Commission's (the "Commission") revised proposal for

a Directive on the Promotion of Clean and Energy Efficient Road

Transport Vehicles (COM(2007)817) (see link to previous article

here). The revised proposal aimed to introduce energy

consumption, CO2 and pollutant emissions as mandatory award

criteria in the costs of the public purchasing of road transport

vehicles.

On 22 October 2008 the European Parliament adopted a legislative

resolution amending the revised proposal following a compromise

with the Council of the European Union. As a result, within 18

months of the Directive becoming law (anticipated by around

September 2010), operational lifetime energy and environmental

impacts must be taken into account either by (i) setting technical

specifications for energy and environmental performance or (ii) by

including energy and environmental impacts in the purchasing

decision as award criteria. This article covers the key

changes.

The Directive, once implemented, could have a substantial impact

on the vehicle market and bring about a fundamental change in

approach to procurement in this area.

Key changes

The text adopted by the European Parliament contains an express

recital stating that the aim of the Directive is to stimulate the

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