Leading voices in decarbonising EU road transport are urgently calling on EU Member States and the European Parliament to agree on ambitious targets for electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

IRU, representing commercial road transport operators, together with ACEA, representing vehicle manufacturers, Transport & Environment, an NGO, and Hydrogen Europe, an association grouping companies and public sector authorities, have signed a joint letter to EU leaders.

The four organisations are all concerned that targets set by the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on alternative fuels infrastructure may be substantially weakened during the legislative process.

In a letter to transport ministers from the 27 Member States of the EU and key European Parliament Rapporteurs today, the organisations call for ambitious and timely targets for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure.

Raluca Marian, IRU’s EU Advocacy Director and General Delegate to the EU, said “Road transport operators are concerned that policy makers may not give them a fair chance to play their role in decarbonising the EU. A solid infrastructure for charging/fuelling zero-emission vehicles, evenly spread across the EU, is a basic enabler for transport operators to do the shift. If infrastructure building is delayed, how can transport operators buy the new vehicles starting to hit the market?”

International Road Transport Union

About the Author: John Loughran