Freight transport is everywhere in our daily lives: our food, our clothes, our medicines and our devices. Road transport Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are proud of the role they play and the contribution to the real economy they provide.

UETR supports the protection of the environment. However, if the cost of green technology is simply passed on enterprises and the cost of vehicles, entrepreneurs will not be able to cope. Thus far, small companies have made huge efforts to go green. They have to be provided with a workable and enabling operational, financial and legal environment to achieve successfully a zero emissions mobility and keep delivering goods to the benefit of all European citizens.

Strict ZEV mandates risk distorting market dynamics, reducing operational flexibility and constraining investment among small hauliers and fleet operators. To ensure a balanced and sustainable transition, the framework for zero-emission fleets should be driven by targeted incentives and infrastructure support that reflect the specific needs of SMEs.

Imposing purchase obligations on private entities would establish a problematic precedent. ZEV mandates would, in effect, compel operators to acquire specific vehicle types, despite the absence of EU legal precedent for mandating the purchase of a particular vehicle.

The impact would be especially severe for small operators, who lack the financial means and work in too many cases under tight/low margins, leaving them unable to absorb such mandated costs.

These challenges are compounded by the current lack of adequate and sufficient charging infrastructure, robust solutions to address energy prices increases, further undermining the feasibility of such mandates.

Any EU proposal needs to fully embrace the technology neutrality principle, as battery-electric vehicles play an important role in the transition but they are not universally suitable in road transport in particular with heavy-duty vehicles. A policy framework that favours a single technology risks stifling innovation and excluding other viable pathways to decarbonisation.

UETR recommendations:

Avoid imposing vehicle-specific ZEV purchase obligations on road transport companies

Take into account the diverse operational requirements and provide targeted exemptions and incentives for road hauliers operating HD and LD

Accelerate investment in EU charging infrastructure for full AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) implementation and hubs to support the uptake of ZEVs.

Fully embrace technology neutrality and energy mix in the legislative drafting, taking into account also e.g. renewable and low carbon fuels

UETR has shared its position with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Mr. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, stressing that binding ZEV targets, either directly affecting road transport operators or along the supply chain would not accelerate this process. Such obligations risk marginalising smaller hauliers — who are essential to Europe’s mobility and transport — and
ultimately undermine both market efficiency and the long-term resilience of the European road transport sector.

The post Greening Corporate Fleets: UETR position and letter to the European Commission appeared first on UETR.