REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the application of Directive 2009/33/EC on the promotion of clean and energy efficient road transport vehicles
Date: 2013-04-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air quality, energy consumption, motor vehicle, motor vehicle pollution, non-polluting vehicle, reduction of gas emissions, road transport

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 18.4.2013  
COM(2013) 214 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE 
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on the application of Directive 2009/33/EC on the promotion of clean and energy 
efficient road transport vehicles 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE 
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on the application of Directive 2009/33/EC on the promotion of clean and energy 
efficient road transport vehicles 

INTRODUCTION 

This  is  the  first  report  on  the  application  of  Directive  2009/33/EC  of  23  April  2009  on  the 
promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles1 (“Clean Vehicle Directive”), 
and on supporting actions taken by Member States, as required by Article 10 of this Directive.  

Directive 2009/33/EC has only been in force for a short period of time, with implementation 
in  a  number  of  Member  States  beying  delayed  considerably.  In  addition,  the  absence  of 
reporting  obligations  for  Member  States  and  the  inconsistencies  in  the  data  available,  made 
the analysis difficult. Thus this report can provide only a limited qualitative analysis, and that 
mostly on the basis of case studies. Detailed material is provided in a study prepared for the 
Commission2. 

The  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  aims  at  stimulating  the  market  for  clean  and  energy-efficient 
vehicles,  thus  contributing  in  the  transport  sector  to  the  energy,  climate  and  environment 
policies of the EU. The deadline for transposition was set for 4 December 2010.  

The Directive applies to vehicles purchased by contracting authorities and contracting entities 
as defined by the public procurement Directives3, and to public transport operators as defined 
by the Regulation on public passenger transport service4. The Directive requires that lifetime 
operational energy consumption, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), and emissions of oxides 
of nitrogen (NOx), non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and particulate matter (PM) are taken 
into  account.  Thereby,  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  has  introduced  for  the  first  time 
sustainability obligations into public procurement law for the whole EU. 

The Directive gives two options for taking account of energy and environmental impacts: The 
first one is setting technical specifications for the performance of the vehicles with respect to 
energy  and  environmental  impacts.  The  second  option  gives  the  opportunity  to  use  these 
impacts as award criteria. 

The  Directive  defines  a  methodology  for  calculating  lifetime  operational  costs  for  energy 
consumption, CO2 emissions, and pollutant emissions of vehicles. This monetisation approach 
internalises  external  costs  of  transport,  a  long-term  objective  of  EU  policy.  This  gives  an 
advantage  to  more  energy  efficient  and  cleaner  vehicles  and  accelerates  their  market 
penetration, both conventional internal combustion engine and alternative fuel vehicles. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles, 
OJ L 120/5 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:120:0005:0012:en:pdf) 
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/vehicles/directive/index_en.htm  
Directive  2004/17/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  coordinating  the  procurement  procedures  of  entities  operating  in  the  water,  energy, 

transport and postal services sectors; Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the coordination of procedures for the award of 
public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts 
Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road 

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1. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLEAN VEHICLE DIRECTIVE IN THE MEMBER STATES 

The deadline for the transposition of the Directive was set for 4 December 2010. Only three 
Member  States  fulfilled  this  obligation  by  that  date.  The  Commission  had  to  initiate 
infringement  proceedings  against  those  Member  States  that  did  not  fulfil  this  obligation.  At 
the  time  of  drafting  this  report  all  ongoing  infringement  procedures  have  been  closed  upon 
transposition by the respective Member States.  

However, there is still one Member State left which has not yet fully transposed the Directive 
into  national  legislation.  This  Member  State,  Latvia,  is  still  in  the  process  of  completing  its 
transposition. An overview on the evolution of the transposition process is given in Table 1. 

Table 1: Overview of the transposition process of the Clean Vehicle Directive in the Member 
States 

Member State 

National transposition  Action taken by the Commission 

Date  set  in  the 
Directive: 
4 December 2010 

2011 

Czech Republic 

September 2010 

n/a 

Denmark, Portugal  

December 2010 

Lithuania 

February 2011 

27.01.2011: 

Bulgaria, Cyprus, 
Hungary, Italy, Spain 

March 2011  

Romania 

France, Germany, 
Poland, Malta 

April 2011 

May 2011 

to 

due 

States 

Letter  of  formal  notice  sent  to  13  EU 
Member 
non-
communication  of  national  measures 
(Belgium,  Germany,  Spain,  Finland, 
Italy,  Cyprus,  Lithuania, 
France, 
Hungary,  Malta,  Netherlands,  Poland 
and Romania) 

Greece, Ireland, 
Luxembourg, 
Netherlands, Slovakia, 
Sweden 

UK 

Belgium, Estonia 

June 2011 

16.06.2011: 

July 2011 

October 2011 

to  10  EU 
Reasoned  opinion  sent 
Member  States 
(Austria,  Bulgaria, 
Estonia,  Greece,  Ireland,  Luxembourg, 
Slovenia,  Slovakia,  Sweden  and  the 
United Kingdom) 

25.11.2011: 

Reasoned  opinion  sent  to  Finland  due 
to  absence  of  measures  relating  to  the 
Province of Åland 

2012 

Austria 

Slovenia 

Finland 

Latvia 

February 2012 

22.03.2012: 

March 2012 

April 2012 

2013 (planned) 

Commission  decision  to  refer  Finland 
to the EU Court of Justice 

(closed  after  notification  of  integral 
transposition by Finland) 

In  most  cases,  the  process  of  transposition  involved  amendments  to  existing  public 
procurement acts, rather than adoption of new legislations. Several Member States have also 
prepared  guidance  documents  related  to  the  implementation  of  Directive  2009/33/EC  or 
intend to prepare such documents. 

No  exemptions  as  provided  for  under  Article  2  of  this  Directive  were  reported  from  the 
Member States. 

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To  facilitate  implementation  of  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive,  the  Commission  opened  an 
internet portal on 30 March 2009, the date of the adoption of the Directive by the Council of 
Ministers.  The  portal  provided  further  explanations  of  the  Directive.  It  also  included  a 
calculator  for  monetising  energy,  CO2  and  pollutant  costs  as  well  as  information  on  related 
policies  and  measures  in  the  Member  States.  A  more  elaborate  Clean  Vehicle  Portal5  was 
subsequently  opened  on  the  transposition  of  Directive  2009/33/EC  in  order  to  facilitate  its 
application. This portal provides the available data for the calculation of lifetime costs for all 
vehicles on the market. It facilitates joint procurement to help bundling purchases of vehicles 
to  achieve  economies  of  scale  with  larger  volumes.  The  portal  also  informs  on  public 
procurement  legislation  and  specific  programmes  and  incentives  for  the  purchase  and 
operation  of  clean  and  energy  efficient  vehicles,  at  EU  level  and  in  the  different  Member 
States, at national, regional and local levels. 

2. 

SUPPORTNG ACTIONS TAKEN BY MEMBER STATES  

Many Member States have implemented additional measures in support of the development of 
a market for clean and energy efficient vehicles in recent years, which have contributed to the 
same  objectives  as  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive.  These  measures  include  incentives  and 
support  for  clean  vehicles  by  public  authorities,  as  well  as  measures  that  stimulate  the 
purchase  and  use  of  clean  and  energy  efficient  vehicles  indirectly,  such  as  selective  access 
restrictions and local demand management differentiating through environmental criteria, and 
vehicle taxation measures. 

Where  access  restrictions  are  in  place,  vehicles  usually  have  to  adhere  to  a  required 
standard/emissions  level  or  other  criteria  to  gain  entry  to  the  market.  So  whilst  aiming  to 
improve  environmental  conditions  in  a  localised  area,  the  benefits  may  also  become  more 
widespread if the uptake of clean and energy efficient vehicles is stimulated as a result. 

Demonstration projects, such as those supported by the CIVITAS Initiative, could potentially 
promote best practices and interest in clean and energy efficient vehicles for the public sector, 
particularly where benefits are realised.  

The  provision  of  appropriate  refuelling/recharging  infrastructure  is  of  key  importance  when 
aiming  to  increase  the  purchase  and  use  of  clean  and  energy  efficient  vehicles  relying  on 
alternative fuels/technologies. A lack of consumer confidence in the availability of alternative 
fuels  can  prohibit  their  uptake.  The  importance  of  this  aspect  is  highlighted  in  the 
Commission proposal for a Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure6. 

The  provision  of  refuelling/recharging  infrastructure  varies  greatly  between  and  within 
Member States and should be better harmonised to take full profit of the internal market for a 
broad uptake  of  clean  and  energy efficient vehicles using alternative fuels as  tackled by the 
Clean Power for Transport communication of the Commission7. 

3. 

APPLICATION OF THE OPTIONS FORESEEN IN THE CLEAN VEHICLE DIRECTIVE 

The majority of Member States have retained all the different options provided by Article 5 
(3) of the Clean Vehicle Directive, when transposing this Directive into national legislation.  

5 
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http://www.cleanvehicle.eu/ 
COM(2013) 18 final  
COM(2013) 17 final 

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This allows public authorities to include the energy and environmental impacts of vehicles in 
procurement procedures by setting either technical specifications or including the impacts as 
award criteria. In the latter case, these impacts can also be monetized.  

The main reasons given by the Member States to retain all of the options provided by Article 
5  (3)  of  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  were  to  enable  greater  flexibility  for  the  purchasing 
authority,  to  give  the  purchasing  authority  the  ability  to  use  the  options  best  suited  to  their 
procurement  needs  and  to  enable  the  most  appropriate  options  according  to  local 
circumstances.  Only  Slovenia,  which  exclusively  allowed  the  energy  and  environmental 
impacts to be used as award criteria, the Czech Republic, which did not permit the use of the 
monetisation  option,  and  Sweden,  which  did  not  create  a  possibility  for  the  energy  and 
environmental  impacts  to  be  used  as  award  criteria,  limited  these  options  for  reasons  of 
simplicity or consistency with the existing national approach. An overview on the application 
of the Directive is given in Table 2. 

Table 2: Application of Article 5(3) in EU Member States 

Action taken by Member State on Article 5(3) 

Member States 

Allow all of the options 

24  Member  States:  Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria. 
Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, 
Greece,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 
Luxembourg,  Malta,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal, 
Romania, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom 

Allow  only  option  1  (i.e.  set  technical  specifications 
for  the  energy  and  environmental  performance  of 
vehicles) 

- 

Allow  only  option  2a  (i.e.  where  energy  and 
environmental impacts are used as award criteria) 

Slovenia 

Allow  only  option  2b  (i.e.  where  energy  and 
environmental impacts are monetised) 

- 

Options 1 and 2a) 

Options 1 and 2b) 

Czech Republic  

Sweden 

At  the  national  level,  Germany  provided  anecdotal  evidence  as  to  the  options  that  are  most 
commonly  used  by  purchasing  authorities  (all  options  foreseen  are  currently  possible  under 
the legislation transposed in Germany), with Option 1 considered to be the one selected the 
most, followed by Option 2a. It was noted that Option 2b was probably the least used, mainly 
due  to  difficulties  regarding  its  application.  Contacts  from  the  city  of  Hamburg  supported 
this  view,  stating  that  to  date  they  have  only  used  Option  1,  mainly  due  to  its  easy 
applicability.  In  Copenhagen,  all  of  the  options  have  been  used  by  the  public  transport 
authorities, and they reported good experiences with each of them. Bologna has used Options 
2a and 2b, but evidence relating to positive or negative experiences of these methods is not 
yet  available.  Slovenia  has  used  the  methodology  for  operational  lifetime  costs,  although  it 
was  considered  that  there  was  a  lack  of  information  regarding  emissions  performance. 
Representatives from Copenhagen, Bologna and Slovenia are all yet to form an opinion as to 
whether  the  options  should  be  retained  or  amended.  Ghent  uses  both  the  technical 
specifications  and  award  criteria  options  (i.e.  options  1  and  2a).  For  the  former,  the 

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technology that the vehicle to be procured should have is the only one to be specified (based 
on a review of the vehicles on the market), while for the award criteria, vehicles have to meet 
a  minimum  environmental  performance.  In  Stockholm,  Directive  2009/33/EC  allows  for  a 
continuation of the approach previously used within the city, which effectively sets technical 
specifications, i.e. it is only possible to procure vehicles that respond to the national definition 
of  a  clean  vehicle.  Representatives  of  Ghent  and  Stockholm  considered  that,  respectively, 
additional  guidance  was  needed  in  relation  to  using  energy  and  environmental  impacts  as 
technical  requirements  and  that  a  rebalancing  of  the  factors  used  in  the  monetisation  option 
was  needed.  London,  Vienna  and  Romanian  public  transport  operators  all  specify  the 
environmental  standards  with  which  vehicles  to  be  purchased  have  to  comply,  while 
Barcelona estimates the life cycle costs of the vehicle along with other factors. 

The majority of Member States were of the opinion that all options should be retained. This 
was largely due to the limited experience they have had with Directive 2009/33/EC since its 
transposition.  And  namely  the  lack  of  assessments  undertaken  to  date  to  determine  the 
impacts of this Directive, including on the market development of clean and energy efficient 
vehicles. Some Member States also pointed out that national systems differ across the EU, so 
retaining  the  choice  between  options  will  be  important  so  as  not  to  disadvantage  certain 
Member States.  

With regard to whether any of the options should be amended, Member States felt again that 
limited  experience  with  Directive  2009/33/EC  prohibited  them  from  suggesting  ways  in 
which  the  options  could  be  improved  at  this  stage.  Further  experience  and  assessment  of 
impacts would be required in order to do so.  

Specific guidance on the application of the different options of Directive 2009/33/EC and on 
the relative weightings to be given to its provisions has only been prepared by a few Member 
States, such as the Netherlands, Latvia, Denmark, France and the UK. 

4. 

IMPACT OF THE CLEAN VEHICLE DIRECTIVE 

The assessment of the impact of Directive 2009/33/EC was heavily hampered by the absence 
of  reporting  obligations  for  Member  States,  and  aggravated  by  the  lack  of  comprehensive 
data,  both  on  the  side  of  procurers  as  on  the  side  of  manufacturers.  No  consistent  data 
collection has been found on the performance regarding energy efficiency, CO2 and pollutant 
emissions of the vehicles purchased under the terms of this Directive.  

Implementation of Directive 2009/33/EC in a number of Member States much later than the 
initially scheduled transposition date also prevented any major impact of this legislation to be 
expected at this early stage.  

Assessments on the expected impact of the Clean Vehicle Directive were carried out only in a 
few  cases.  With  regard  to  the  potential  estimated  impacts  of  the  options  provided  for  in  its 
Article 5(3), very few Member States have undertaken an assessment. In the UK, an impact 
assessment for the transposing legislation was undertaken, but regarding the Directive in its 
entirety  and  not  on  the  specific  options.  It  concluded  that  there  would  be  EUR  27  million 
worth of economic benefits associated with the implementation of this Directive in the UK. 
However,  due  to  the  belated  transposition  process  and  the  lack  of  feasible  post-
implementation data there are no conclusive impact assessments concerning the actual post-
transposition impact yet.  

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A number of Member States had existing ‘green’ public procurement requirements relating to 
the procurement of vehicles prior to the introduction of Directive 2009/33/EC. Therefore the 
impact  of  this  Directive  has  been  minimal  on  the  existing  situation.  However,  it  was 
acknowledged  that  it  is  possible  that  public  bodies  will  benefit  from  having  the  criteria  for 
procurement formalised, and those Member States who did not previously have any existing 
criteria are expected to benefit.  

Many  cities  in  the  EU  have  established  policies  with  the  view  to  procure  cleaner  and  more 
energy efficient vehicles. These policies have contributed to emissions reductions from public 
vehicle fleets in these cities. They have often been driven by the need to meet EU air quality 
standards.  With  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  in  place,  more  cities  are  expected  to  clean  up 
their vehicle fleets, using the options offered by this Directive. 

Manufacturers indicated that more public authorities have been evaluating life time costs and 
impacts  of  vehicles,  rather  than  just  focusing  on  purchasing  costs.  In  this  respect,  Directive 
2009/33/EC seems to lead to a change in attitude, which could have a more significant impact 
on  procurement  decisions  of  public  authorities  and  public  transport  operators  in  the  longer 
term. 

However, with regards to the wider impacts, it was felt that it would be extremely difficult to 
assess the impacts of Directive 2009/33/EC as similar anticipated impacts can also have been 
stimulated  by  other  policy  measures.  Although  the  market  for  low  emission  vehicles  is 
expanding, it is difficult to attribute this to the implementation of this Directive, and it is more 
likely to be due to other factors (including technological developments, other EU legislations, 
national vehicle taxation policies, market conditions, existing government incentive schemes 
etc.).  

Many  Member  States  mentioned  how  public  procurement  activity  relating  to  vehicle  (and 
other sectors) had been low in recent years – many have very few funds available to renew 
vehicle fleets/service contracts as a result of consequences of the global recession.  

A further factor that may have an impact on the purchase decisions of public authorities and 
private  stakeholders  are  high  petrol/energy  prices  as  mentioned  by  one  Member  State.  It  is 
being  estimated  that  such  considerations  could  be  generally  applicable.  Total  costs  of 
ownership are, in some cases, important in purchase decisions (particularly for heavy duty and 
fleet vehicles), which in part could be exerting pressure on vehicle manufacturers to increase 
their clean vehicle range and offers.  

The lack of common procedures on the measurement of CO2 emissions of heavy duty vehicles 
was  a  barrier  to  applying  Directive  2009/33/EC  to  such  vehicles.  A  specific  calculation 
methodology  has  therefore  been  provided  on  the  Clean  Vehicle  Portal.  Additionally,  the 
International  Association  of  Public  Transport  (UITP)  and  the  European  Automobile 
Manufacturers’  Association  (ACEA)  worked  together  to  agree  on  how  operators  and 
procurers could apply the provisions of the Clean Vehicle Directive in bus tendering. Similar 
collaboration could be undertaken for other types of heavy duty vehicles. 

As  of  2013,  all  heavy  duty  vehicle  engines  will  be  tested  according  to  the  "Worldwide 
Harmonized Heavy-Duty Transient Cycle" as defined under the auspices of the UNECE. As 
stated by the final report8 of the respective working group, the objective of the initial research 
conducted  was  the  development  of  a  worldwide  harmonised  engine  test  cycle  for  engine 

8 

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2001/wp29grpe/TRANS-WP29-GRPE-42-inf02.pdf 

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exhaust  emissions.  This  tool  will  be  used  for  measuring  air  pollutant  emissions,  CO2 
emissions and fuel consumption. These measurements will support a wider application of the 
monetisation option of the Clean Vehicle Directive.  

No  evidence  of  technology  selection  was  found  to  date,  thus  confirming  the  completely 
technology-neutral approach of this Directive.  

5. 

REPLICATION OF THE CLEAN VEHICLE DIRECTIVE APPROACH 

The Clean Vehicle Directive has been part of a gradual shift in EU policy to a more proactive 
and  consistent  inclusion  of  environmental  requirements  in  EU  procurement  and  product 
legislation.  Approaches  similar  to  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  on  including  lifetime 
operational  impacts  on  resources  and  environment  have  been  taken  in  some  other  sectors, 
such  as  buildings,  electric  appliances,  or  office  equipment,  for  a  number  of  years.  Such 
initiatives, along with increasingly clean and energy efficient vehicles, will play an important 
role  in  meeting  the  EU  2020  target  of  a  20%  improvement  regarding  the  EU's  energy 
efficiency.  

The  development  in  procurement  legislation  towards  a  cost-effectiveness  approach,  such  as 
life-cycle costing, has been generalised in the proposal of the Commission of 20th December 
2011 for a revision of the existing Directives on public procurement9, in particular in Article 
66  on  contract  award  criteria  and  Article  67  on  life-cycle  costing.  The  changes  that  the 
proposed  revised  framework  includes  should  lead  to  a  more  consistent  consideration  of 
environmental criteria in public procurement decisions in the EU.  

While  no  evidence  was  found  on  Directive  2009/33/EC  directly  influencing  the  approach 
taken  in  the  private  sector  in  relation  to  the  procurement  of  clean  and  energy  efficient 
vehicles,  examples  of  the  private  sector  procuring  more  energy  efficient  vehicles  were 
nevertheless found. However, it is important to note that the procurement of energy efficient 
vehicles  by  the  private  sector  is  only  one  element  of  fleet  management.  Procuring  such 
vehicles  can  lead  to  a  reduction  in  the  costs  of  managing  a  fleet,  particularly  where  the 
lifetime  costs  of  an  energy-efficient  vehicle  are  less  than  those  of  conventional  vehicles. 
However,  other  elements  of  energy-efficient  fleet  management  include  maximising  loads, 
reducing  empty  running  and  eco-driving.  Consequently,  many  firms  with  large  fleets,  e.g. 
courier  companies  such  as  DHL,  TNT  and  UPS,  manage  their  fleets  to  reduce  energy 
consumption, and thus emissions. For such companies, managing their vehicles fleets in such 
a  way  makes  economic  sense,  in  addition  to  responding  to  wider  environmental  concerns, 
including  those  of  their  customers.  It  is  possible  to  identify  various  good  practice  examples 
with respect to clean fleet management that have been undertaken globally. 

In  Finland  the  approaches  set  out  in  Directive  2009/33/EC  have  been  taken  up  within  the 
private  sector.  The  procurement  advice  produced  in  relation  to  the  implementation  of  the 
Clean Vehicle Directive has also been disseminated to large private buyers, such as company 
car buyers, which is important as almost one fifth of new cars sold in Finland are company 
cars. 

6. 

CONCLUSIONS 

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Belated transposition of the Clean Vehicle Directive by most Member States has limited the 
experience  with  this  Directive  to  date  and  has  therefore  provided  challenges  for  the 
assessment of its impacts within the scope of this monitoring report. This situation is further 
aggravated by the absence of reporting obligations for Member States. 

Additional  guidance  appears  necessary  for  the  application  of  the  different  options  of  the 
Directive  in  order  to  take  into  account  energy  consumption,  CO2  and  pollutant  emissions 
when  procuring  vehicles.  There  is  also  the  need  to  support  the  still  novel  monetisation 
approach.  Member  States  should  provide  this  guidance,  paying  particular  attention  to  their 
relevant  national  legislation.  Dedicated  training  for  staff  responsible  for  implementing  the 
relevant national legislation should also be taken into account. 

The  Clean  Vehicle  Portal  is  considered  a  useful  tool  in  assisting  public  authorities  with  the 
procurement  of  clean  and  energy  efficient  vehicles,  and  concerning  the  prevalence  of  the 
experience  acquired  under  this  Directive.  The  Commission  will  upgrade  the  Clean  Vehicle 
Portal  to  respond  to  the  expectations  of  public  and  private  procurers.  Additionally,  the 
functionality in relation to the stimulation of joint procurement of clean and energy efficient 
vehicles  on  the  Portal  will  be  improved,  including  the  better  facilitation  of  close  contacts 
between the relevant national and regional authorities in the EU 27 and beyond. 

This is expected to help build up market power for clean and energy efficient vehicles more 
rapidly  so  that  industry  can  profit  from  economies  of  scale  and  offer  more  competitive 
products.  More  attention  to  private  customers  can  also  enhance  the  impact  of  Directive 
2009/33/EC, following the original objective of initially addressing the public sector directly, 
and subsequently reaching out to professional and private procurement.  

Various  stakeholders,  such  as  the  EU  industry  associations,  could  develop  guidance,  as  the 
International Association of Public Transport (UITP) has done, for their respective members 
in order to increase awareness of this Directive. 

The  Commission  launched  a  European  Electro-mobility  Observatory  (EEO)  in  December 
201210,  which  will  ensure  collection  and  dissemination  of  key  statistical  data  on 
electromobility  (battery  electric  and  fuel  cell  electric  vehicles)  in  a  consistent  manner  by 
regional  and  local  authorities.  The  EEO  should  become  the  main  information  platform  of 
European  regions  on  electromobility.  It  should  also  provide  information  on  how  public 
procurement  at  the  local  level  influences  the  development  of  electric  vehicles  or  fuel  cell 
electric vehicles market in Europe.  

In  the  next  review  of  the  Clean  Vehicle  Directive  scheduled  for  2014,  the  Commission  is 
planning  to  assess  thoroughly  the  value  added  of  the  Directive.  In  this  context  the 
Commission may consider the possibility of simplifying the application of this Directive by 
streamlining it. This could be done by narrowing choices on Member State level for example 
by  focussing  on  the  simplest  approach  with  regard  to  calculations  to  be  carried  out.  This 
would prevent a possible fragmentation of the internal market through different technological 
selections.  It  could  then  provide  better  conditions  for  economies  of  scale  for  innovative 
vehicle  technologies  through  bundling  demand  within  the  internal  market.  Clear  reporting 
obligations could also be imposed upon the Member States. 

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electromobility-observatory-contract 

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