Dear Madam, Sir,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001 and Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

All data provided for each M1 and N1 vehicle registered in the year 2020 containing the following merged information:

Data as defined in (EU) 2019/631 and the “Guidelines on the monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions from light duty vehicles (Version 12)”:
- Name of the manufacturer EU standard denomination (Mh)
- Name of the manufacturer OEM declaration (MAN)
- Type approval number (TAN)
- Type (T)
- Variant (Va)
- Version (Ve)
- Make (Mk)
- Commercial name (Cn)
- Vehicle Family Number (VFN) (=Interpolation family identifier)
- Category of the vehicle type approved (Ct)
- Category of the vehicle registered (Cr)
- Mass in running order (M)
- WLTP test mass (MT)
- Specific emissions of CO2 (Enedc)
- Specific emissions of CO2 (Ewltp)
- Fuel type (Ft)
- Fuel mode (Fm)
- Engine capacity (Ec)
- Engine power (Ep)

Data as defined in Article 7a of (EU) 2017/1153 and Article 6a of (EU) 2017/1152 and specified more precisely in the “Guidelines to Manufacturers for the notification of errors in the provisional data on CO2 emissions from passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (Version for 2021)”:

- Measured CO2 for the individual vehicle
- Measured CO2 for vehicle low
- Measured CO2 for vehicle high
- Interpolation coefficient

I would appreciate it if this data is provided digitally, in a machine-readable format (so a spreadsheet rather than a PDF).

It is possible that when considering my request, article 4.2 from Regulation 1049/2001 (commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property) is invoked. Please note that this exception should be overruled if there is ‘an overriding public interest in disclosure’. In the following paragraphs I will argue the public interest in disclosure of this data.

The WLTP test procedure was introduced replacing the NEDC method because it was ‘expected to provide CO2 emission and fuel consumption values that are more representative of real driving conditions’ (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1153, recital 1).

These CO2 emission and fuel consumption values are crucial in determining the emission reduction targets for car manufacturers. As Regulation (EU) 2019/631 states, an important report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‘concludes that emissions reductions in all sectors are crucial to limit global warming’ and this includes further emissions reductions in the transport sector: ‘Road transport is a major contributor to the emissions from those sectors. Moreover, emissions from road transport show an increasing trend, and remain significantly above 1990 levels. If road transport emissions increase further, such increases will continue to counteract emissions reductions made by other sectors to combat climate change.’

Recital 10 of Regulation (EU) 2019/631 further notes that the benefits of its legal predecessors (Regulations (EC) No 443/2009 and (EU) No 510/2011) ‘have been eroded due to the increasing discrepancy between the CO2 emissions measured under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and the CO2 emissions emitted from vehicles driven under real-world conditions’.

It is important to check whether the switch from NEDC to WLTP has not led to issues that also have a negative impact on the real-world emissions reductions.

The importance of this is highlighted by none other than the two Commissioners who were in charge of the Commission proposal which ultimately was adopted as Regulation (EU) 2019/631.

In a letter dated 18 July 2018 (Ares(2018)s4143407), European Commissioners Cañete and Bienkowska wrote: "Through data collected from authorities in Member States and assessed by colleagues from the Joint Research Centre, it has been detected that manufacturers may use the transition from the old European driving cycle (NEDC) test procedure to WLTP to inflate their WLTP emission levels in 2020. They could do so without an impact on their NEDC emission levels which will be used for target compliance up to 2020."

Cañete and Bienkowska continued: "Inflated WLTP emissions in 2020 would result in less strict WLTP CO2 emission targets applying in 2021. As the 2021 WLTP targets also act as the starting point for the 2025 and 2030 targets, such inflation would in turn lead to lower real life emission reductions in the target years. As only some manufacturers might inflate the starting point, this could also lead to distortion of the level playing field between manufacturers."

The requested data would allow journalists such as myself to determine if any of the manufacturers have indeed inflated WLTP emissions in 2020. This is in the public interest, and this public interest would override any commercial interest of car manufacturers.

Since the issue at hand here is important to establish whether real-world CO2 emissions are sufficiently going to be reduced, Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 also applies.

As article 6 of this ‘Aarhus Regulation’ states, ‘an overriding public interest in disclosure shall be deemed to exist where the information requested relates to emissions into the environment’. It adds that ‘the grounds for refusal’ using the commercial interest exception ‘shall be interpreted in a restrictive way, taking into account the public interest served by disclosure and whether the information requested relates to emissions into the environment’.

If you have any questions regarding my comment, please do not hesitate to ask for clarifications.

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Investigative journalist Follow the Money

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer
Follow the Money
Overtoom 197
1054 HT Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Dear Madam, Sir,

On 22 June 2022, I sent the European Environment Agency a request under Regulation 1049/2001. I have not yet received an acknowledgment of receipt. Could you please inform me that you have received my application and that it has been registered?

Sincerely,
Peter Teffer