European Union Low Emission Standard (EULES)

Client: DG ENV

Description:

The EULES standard will provide a unique opportunity to distinguish clean vehicles and help consumers purchase less polluting cars in order to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.

Road transport is one of the main sources of air pollution in Europe. Especially diesel cars show particularly high nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. In order to help consumers purchase less polluting vehicles, the European Commission is considering a voluntary emission standard. This should also encourage manufactures to produce less-emitting vehicles and serve as a benchmark for authorities when developing policies that promote cleaner transportation. The voluntary “EULES” standard (European Union Low Emission Standard) may fulfil these expectations after legal and technical assessment, including the appropriate conformity levels and market response. Open Evidence will use its expertise in behavioural economics to identify:

• Consumer “nudges” to choose an environmentally friendly EULES cars
• Promotional materials and visual stimuli needed to promote the purchase of EULES cars
• The design of the EULES label or its incorporation into existing labels (СO2 label, Ecolabel)

Innovative Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) as well as Real Drive Emissions (RDE) of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles will fuel the EULES standard. The information gathered via PREMS and RDE over 2015-2017 should become publicly available and should provide a basis for development of maximal emission levels. The EULES standard will provide a unique opportunity to distinguish among clean vehicles, i.e. vehicles with low in-use emission levels, from those vehicles just exhibiting low emissions. It could thus be a powerful tool to accelerate clean transportation in Europe, until zero-emission vehicles become widely accessible in the long term. The legal and technical assessment of EULES standard is led by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and coordinated by EMISIA in collaboration with AVL List GmbH, the International Council for Clean Transportation, and Open Evidence.