Vehicle labelling raised in parliamentary question

Sun 07 March 2004 View all news

The issue of labelling vehicles according to their energy and environmental performance was raised in a written question by John Battle, MP.

In his written answer transport minister David Jamieson said:

It has been a legal requirement in the UK since 1977 for labels giving fuel economy information to be fixed to all new cars on display in showrooms. More recently, requirements for the labelling of passenger cars were introduced into UK law in the form of regulations implementing EU Directive 1999/94/EC. These regulations require a label to be displayed on all new car models in showrooms, listing their CO2 emissions performance and fuel consumption. Manufacturers must also include these same figure in all printed adverts, brochures and manuals.

The European Commission is currently in the process of reviewing Directive 1000/94/EC. As part of this review, it has commissioned consultants to evaluate the effectiveness of the Directive's current provisions. This review may conclude that the Directive should be amended to require the labels to have an A-G style format, similar to that already used in labels on some electrical goods. The UK has made clear to the European Commission that it would favour such an approach.


In parallel, the UK Government has asked the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) to develop a proposal for a voluntary UK car labelling scheme, with an A-G style energy efficiency format. The Government hopes that the Partnership will reach agreement on the scope and format of such a label later this year. This would allow a new A-G style energy efficiency label for passenger cars to be introduced in the UK on a voluntary basis during 2005, as an interim measure in advance of any similar mandatory EU label.


< Back to news list