Headlines
- Commission allocates ~€100m in ETS allowances to support airlines’ 2024 SAF use
- EIT Urban Mobility highlights bike-sharing ahead of European Mobility Week
- T&E warns of new “PHEV emissions scandal” a decade after Dieselgate
- Eurelectric calls for binding 2030 ZEV targets for corporate fleets
- Belgium study finds shared bikes and scooters complement public transport and cut car use
Commission and industry outline next steps for EU automotive leadership
Commission allocates ~€100m in ETS allowances to support airlines’ 2024 SAF use
On 12 September, the Commission adopted Decision C/2025/5004 instructing the Union Registry to credit free EU ETS allowances to airlines for eligible sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) uplifted in 2024. The measure operationalises the ETS aviation support introduced by Directive (EU) 2023/958 and detailed in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/723.
For 2024, authorities notified demand covering 53 operators; the Commission found no need for a reduction factor and will allocate about 1.3 million allowances (≈ €100m at €75/allowance). Because SAF is zero-rated under the ETS, operators also avoid surrendering allowances for that fuel—an additional benefit of roughly €25m—bringing the total ETS incentive for 2024 to ~€125m. The aviation SAF window sets aside up to 20 million allowances for 2024–2030 (≈ €1.5bn at €75) to help bridge the kerosene–SAF price gap.
Allocations span 20 notifying Member States; eight (including Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland) reported no demand. By aggregate 2024 volumes in the annexed tables, the largest national totals include Spain (421,866), France (332,984), Germany (143,960), Netherlands (124,524), Sweden (86,490), Ireland (65,464) and Austria (50,048), with further awards across Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Finland and others. Named beneficiaries include major network, low-cost and regional carriers as well as cargo and business operators.
The Commission will publish ETS SAF support prices to anchor transparency. Member States continue reviewing emissions and fuel data; any corrections to 2024 allocations will follow Article 7 of Delegated Regulation 2025/723. The mechanism complements ReFuelEU Aviation by cushioning SAF premiums while maintaining carbon-price signals, and is intended to scale with market uptake as battery-electric and hydrogen pathways for aviation remain longer-dated.
EIT Urban Mobility highlights bike-sharing ahead of European Mobility Week
EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, will play an active role in European Mobility Week 2025 (16–22 September) under the theme “Mobility for Everyone”. The campaign focuses on reducing transport poverty and ensuring public transport, walking and cycling are accessible regardless of income or ability.
In collaboration with Cycling Industries Europe, EIT Urban Mobility has commissioned EY to quantify the social, economic and environmental impact of bike-sharing schemes. Preliminary results show that more than half of shared bike users combine them with public transport; shared bicycles can cut individual mobility costs by up to 90%; and in 2024 they avoided 46kT of CO2e and saved €40m in healthcare costs through more active travel. The study, due in October, will include 2030 projections.
Bernadette Bergsma, Communications and EU Affairs Director, said bike-sharing helps “reduce costs, emissions and health risks while ensuring no one is left behind”. Cycling Industries Europe added that the evidence should make bike-sharing “a core tool for cleaner, more liveable cities”.
T&E warns of new “PHEV emissions scandal” a decade after Dieselgate
Transport & Environment has warned that lobbying to freeze planned tightening of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) “utility factors” could repeat Dieselgate’s mistakes. EU data show PHEVs emit nearly five times the CO2 claimed in type-approval tests because drivers use combustion mode more than assumed. Utility factors adopted for 2025 and 2027 aim to close the gap and force carmakers to sell more BEVs if PHEVs underperform.
T&E accused manufacturers of seeking to legalise inflated claims, risking hundreds of thousands of extra high-emission cars on EU roads by 2035. It also criticised weak enforcement of existing rules on diesel cars, noting 19m “suspicious” vehicles still on European roads may cause 81,000 premature deaths by 2040. The NGO urged lawmakers to preserve the PHEV correction factors and strengthen the “roadworthiness package” to remove gross polluters and block their export.
Eurelectric calls for binding 2030 ZEV targets for corporate fleets
In a new position paper, Eurelectric urges the Commission to propose by end-2025 a Regulation requiring all new corporate cars to be zero-emission by 2030, alongside binding targets for vans and heavy vehicles reflecting operational needs. Corporate registrations account for ~60% of EU new car sales, drive twice as far as private cars and feed the second-hand market after 3–5 years, making them a “no-regret” pathway to mass EV adoption.
Eurelectric proposes an EU-wide Eco Score to reward vehicles produced under high environmental and social standards, favouring European-built BEVs. It also advocates measures promoting smart and bi-directional charging, and calls for Member States to align tax regimes — citing Belgium, where incentives lifted BEV fleet share from 23% in H1 2023 to 35% in H1 2024.
