Together with colleagues in the European Parliament, I have co-signed this letter to the Commission with an urgent call for a targeted reform to prevent industrial collapse and job losses.

« Dear President Von Der Leyen,
Dear Executive Vice-President Ribera,

We write to express profound concern regarding the Commission’s current approach to CO2 regulation for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) under Regulation (EU) 2019/1242, which sets a fleet-wide 45% CO2 reduction target by 2030.

The current regulatory framework is economically unbalanced, structurally unrealistic, and risks inflicting irreversible harm on one of Europe’s most vital industrial sectors.

European truck manufacturers have met expectations so far. Zero-emission trucks are being developed, produced, and delivered. Billions have been invested in electrification. The vehicles exist but the problem is that the supporting ecosystem does not.
Under current rules, missing the 2030 CO2 reduction target means that manufacturers will face crippling penalties of €4,250 per gram of CO2 exceeded, per vehicle sold.

To illustrate the scale of this threat:
• These fines are over 30 times higher than those applied to light-duty vehicle manufacturers.
• A manufacturer with a 20% EU market share exceeding the 2030 target by just 1 gram would face fines of over €210 million annually.
• If the industry as a whole falls short by just 10%, the cumulative penalties could exceed €6 billion.
The most worrying aspect is that these fines will be imposed regardless of whether the cause of non-compliance lies with manufacturers or not, because the EU’s HDV infrastructure is simply not ready.

Today, fewer than 1,000 public charging sites for HDVs exist across the entire EU and the vast majority are not equipped for long-haul needs. Electricity is still taxed more heavily than diesel in many Member States, while the business model for hauliers remains underfunded and short-term.

All these shortcomings represent a clear and present danger to thousands of factories, supply chains, and the livelihoods of countless European workers. Truck manufacturing supports over 300,000 direct jobs and many more indirectly. These jobs are increasingly at risk because of unrealistic regulation enforced in the absence of basic enabling conditions.

We therefore call on the Commission to immediately propose a targeted amendment to Regulation (EU) 2019/1242, with the following urgent provisions:
1. A direct legal mechanism that conditions manufacturer CO2
compliance on the verified availability of enabling infrastructure,
including high-capacity charging and hydrogen refuelling stations.
2. Automatic penalty exemptions where infrastructure or support
mechanisms are missing, particularly where Member States or grid
operators have been unable to deliver.
3. A cap on CO2 penalties for HDVs, bringing them in line with those for light-duty vehicles, to ensure industrial proportionality and legal consistency.

The Commission should also establish a biannual monitoring mechanism involving Member States, the Commission, and industry stakeholders. This process must track the real-world progress of infrastructure deployment, policy implementation, and fleet transition conditions, with a view to assess the ongoing
applicability of regulatory obligations. European manufacturers cannot be punished for infrastructure and regulatory
failures entirely beyond their control. Without urgent action, we risk
deindustrialising a vital European sector, ceding technological leadership to non-European actors, and triggering job losses on a continental scale.

It is time the Commission recognises that Europe cannot decarbonise by bankrupting its own industry. »