Headlines:
- Industry group seeks new renewable fuel vehicle category under EU car CO₂ rules
- French court orders TotalEnergies to include Scope 3 emissions in vigilance plan
- Study warns growing vehicle size could reduce urban parking capacity by up to 14%
- Shipping, aviation sectors seek ETS revenue earmarking for sustainable fuels
- UK launches review of SAF mandate amid concerns over future fuel supply
- Tube whistleblower ruling draws attention to Underground air quality monitoring
- Commission launches consultation on overhaul of EU research partnerships
- Amazon claims low-carbon investments strengthened European supply chains and commercial EV deployment
Industry group seeks new renewable fuel vehicle category under EU car CO₂ rules
A coalition of automotive and fuel sector stakeholders has called for the creation of a new category of vehicles that would be permitted to count as zero-emission under the EU’s car and van CO₂ standards despite retaining an internal combustion engine.
In a position paper published on the 16th of June, the Working Group on Monitoring Methodologies (WGMM) urged lawmakers to create a category of “Vehicles Exclusively running on Eligible Fuels” (VEEFs) during the ongoing revision of Regulation (EU) 2019/631.
Under the proposal, vehicles capable of operating only on qualifying renewable fuels would receive a regulatory value of 0g CO₂/km and could therefore be counted by manufacturers as zero-emission vehicles when calculating compliance with fleet CO₂ targets.
The group argues that eligibility should extend to all renewable fuels meeting Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria, including biofuels, biomethane, renewable liquid gases and renewable fuels of non-biological origin. This would go beyond approaches focused solely on e-fuels or advanced biofuels.
To prevent conventional fossil fuel use, WGMM proposes a dedicated type approval framework requiring vehicles to operate exclusively on qualifying fuels. The paper calls on the Commission to develop anti-misfuelling systems, vehicle inducement mechanisms and certification procedures under Euro 7 legislation and vehicle conformity rules.
A central element of the proposal concerns monitoring. Critics of the concept have questioned how regulators could verify that vehicles are actually fuelled with renewable fuels. WGMM argues that this issue has already been resolved through a combination of mass-balance accounting, digital fuel tracking systems and technologies linking fuel purchases to individual vehicles. The group points to pilot projects and demonstrations undertaken across Europe as evidence that such systems are technically feasible.
The coalition also disputes claims that fuel availability would constrain deployment. According to the paper, Europe already has more than 6,000 renewable diesel filling stations, more than 5,500 renewable gasoline stations, around 1,500 biomethane stations and approximately 500 bioLPG stations. It argues that most renewable fuels can be supplied through existing fuel infrastructure without major additional investment.
The proposal would effectively create a second route to compliance alongside battery-electric vehicles, allowing manufacturers to continue placing combustion-engine vehicles on the market after 2035 provided they are approved to run exclusively on qualifying renewable fuels.
The position paper backs amendments tabled by ENVI rapporteur Massimiliano Salini as Parliament examines the Commission’s proposed revision of the CO₂ standards.
French court orders TotalEnergies to include Scope 3 emissions in vigilance plan
A Paris court has ordered TotalEnergies to revise its corporate vigilance plan to include Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, marking a significant interpretation of France’s corporate duty of vigilance law with potential implications for fuel producers and other companies with complex value chains.
In a judgment delivered on the 25th of June, the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris found that climate-related risks fall within the scope of France’s duty of vigilance legislation and that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of TotalEnergies’ products form part of the company’s activities for the purposes of the law. The court concluded that the company’s existing vigilance plan, which addressed Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions but excluded Scope 3 emissions, was incomplete.
The court ordered TotalEnergies to amend its vigilance plan within six months by incorporating Scope 3 emissions into its risk mapping together with appropriate vigilance measures. However, it declined to prescribe specific emissions reduction targets or operational measures, holding that its role is limited to reviewing whether the company’s vigilance plan contains reasonable, coherent and appropriate measures.
The judges held that emissions resulting from the combustion of oil and gas products by end users are inherently linked to the company’s activities and therefore fall within the scope of the vigilance obligations.
Beyond TotalEnergies, the judgment is likely to be closely watched by fuel producers and transport energy suppliers, as well as other companies with significant downstream emissions. While the ruling does not prescribe any particular decarbonisation pathway, it reinforces the importance of identifying and managing lifecycle emissions within corporate governance and risk management frameworks.
The decision also illustrates the increasingly fragmented legal landscape facing companies operating across the European Union. While the ruling is based on French duty of vigilance legislation, companies are simultaneously preparing for implementation of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive alongside differing national legal regimes and judicial interpretations. For businesses operating across multiple member states, this creates the prospect of varying compliance expectations and legal standards despite operating within the single market.
The judgment is also likely to reignite debate over the coherence of the EU’s wider simplification agenda. As the Commission seeks to reduce regulatory complexity through the Omnibus package, national courts continue to interpret and develop domestic legislation independently. That may leave multinational companies navigating an increasingly diverse body of national case law, while member states are unlikely to support reforms that would materially limit their courts’ ability to interpret and apply national legislation.
The proceedings remain ongoing. The case has been referred to January 2027, when the Paris court will review TotalEnergies’ revised vigilance plan and the measures adopted in response to the judgment.
Study warns growing vehicle size could reduce urban parking capacity by up to 14%
The continued growth in vehicle size could reduce on-street parking capacity in European cities by between 8.5% and 14% by 2040, according to a study published by Transport & Environment and Clean Cities.
The report found that newly sold cars are becoming larger across all key dimensions, with average vehicle length increasing by around 1.2 centimetres annually. Researchers said the trend could significantly reduce the number of vehicles that can be accommodated on existing urban streets without changes to parking infrastructure.
London could lose between 72,000 and 118,000 on-street parking spaces by 2040 under current trends, according to the analysis. Berlin could lose between 71,000 and 117,000 spaces, while Rome could lose between 58,000 and 95,000 spaces. Madrid, Warsaw and Paris would also see reductions in parking capacity.
The study also projected road safety impacts. Compared with a scenario in which new vehicle dimensions return to 2015 levels, the continuation of current trends could result in around 400 additional annual deaths among vulnerable road users by 2040. Child pedestrian fatalities were projected to be around 40% higher.
The findings come amid continued growth in SUV sales across Europe and renewed debate over vehicle dimensions, urban space allocation and road safety. Previous analysis by the International Energy Agency found that SUVs accounted for all growth in passenger car oil demand between 2010 and 2018 and consume around 25% more energy than medium-sized cars.
Transport & Environment and Clean Cities called for EU action on vehicle dimensions, alongside reforms to taxation and parking policies aimed at discouraging the uptake of larger vehicles.
Shipping, aviation sectors seek ETS revenue earmarking for sustainable fuels
European shipowners and airlines have called on the European Commission to direct a share of EU Emissions Trading System revenues towards supporting the uptake of sustainable fuels in the maritime and aviation sectors, arguing that current funding mechanisms are insufficient to bridge the cost gap with conventional fuels.
In a joint statement, European Shipowners (ECSA) and Airlines for Europe (A4E) said shipping and aviation together contribute more than €11 billion annually to EU ETS revenues and urged Brussels to require member states to earmark part of those proceeds for investments in sustainable fuel production and deployment.
The organisations said sustainable fuels remain significantly more expensive than conventional alternatives, with costs around four times higher in shipping and between three and six times higher in aviation. They argued that targeted support would be needed to increase fuel availability and provide investment certainty for producers and users.
The groups also called on member states to complement EU-level funding instruments with national ETS revenues.
ECSA Secretary General Sotiris Raptis said European shipowners account for 44% of the global orderbook for vessels capable of operating on sustainable fuels, but warned that fuel production capacity remains concentrated outside Europe. According to the organisation, Asia hosts 74% of sustainable fuel production projects, compared with 10% in Europe.
A4E Managing Director Ourania Georgoutsakou said airlines contributed €2.3 billion to the EU ETS in 2024 and warned that existing support measures, including the allocation of sustainable aviation fuel allowances, would be insufficient to meet expected demand by 2030.
The intervention adds to growing industry pressure on the Commission to recycle a larger share of ETS revenues into transport decarbonisation projects as shipping and aviation face increasingly stringent fuel and emissions requirements.
