Supported by: Sub-regional meeting on Fuel Economy DATE OF EVENT: VENUE: DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS TO DATE:

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1 Supported by: SUB-REGIONAL NETWORKS FOR CLEAN FUELS FOR CLEANER FUELS AND VEHICLES SOUTHEAST EUROPEE PROJECT CODE: M3291 DONOR: M59 Activity: (Work Package 1) National Working Group on Clean Fuels and Vehicles TITLE: DATE OF EVENT: VENUE: DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS TO DATE: Sub-regional meeting on Fuel Economy 11th of June Hotel Bosnia The sub-regional workshop on fuel economy was organised and held on the. Only representatives of Albanian and BiH institutions participated; the invitees from Serbia could not take part as they were engaged in emergencies towards recovery from flood in the country. The workshop discussion is summarised in the following points: Vehicle Fleets: o BiH: There have been registered passenger cars in BiH in 2010 and in 2011 respectively. The vehicle fleet in BiH mainly includes used vehicles. Registration of vehicles in BiH is performed by the following institutions: Cantonal Ministries of Interiors (for the Federation of BiH), Ministry of Interiors (Republic of Srpska) and the Police of the Brcko District (administrative unit).technical examination of the vehicles upon registration in BiH is performed by Stations for technical examination. CO2 emission at the exhaust pipe is measured as part of the technical examination of vehicle parts and systems. o Albania: There have been passenger cars registered in Albania in 2010 and in 2011 respectively. The vehicle fleet in Albania mainly includes used vehicles. The vehicle fleet has grown tremendously in the past few years. The Tirana municipality has the greatest number of vehicles (about a third of the total national vehicle fleet), followed by the Durres municipality. Together, the Tirana Durres areaa represents almost half of the vehicle fleet in the country. Private companies concessionaires are assigned by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport for performing technical examination of the vehicles upon registration in Albania; the information on vehicle fleet is not precise as there are imported cars for which the custom duties have not been paid, as well as there are unregistered vehicles and even stolen cars participating in the traffic. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) funding opportunities: It was agreed to submit letters of intent to the relevant Ministries on Environment and invite them to express interest in joining the CCAC. In case of positive response by the Ministries, the REC would draft the application for membership. Recommendations: Fuel Economy Policies: National transport and climate policies in Albania do not recognise the fuel economy as a separate subject Page 1

2 o and means for reducing the CO2 emissions. In BiH, the Second Communication on Climate Change towards the UNFCC sets improving a fuel economy an important contributor to mitigating the climate. The implementation of this regulation is, however, linked to the membership of the EU and is deemed by the stakeholders to be unrealistic. Furthermore, the target of 130 g/km (5.6 l/100km) set by the Regulation (EC) No. 443/2009 as part of the Community s integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles for the average emissions of new cars to be phased-in by 2015 is difficult to achieve even at the EU level. The emission performance of vehicles is tested in laboratory conditions. In reality, there are other factors that influence the fuel consumption, such as: age and maintenance, driving behaviour, idling time due to traffic obstructions in urban areas, roads in bad shape, tyres etc. Imported Euro 3 vehicles aged over 15 years do not perform as originally measured at the time of production. Even if the fuel economy baseline for Albania or BiH would be ideal (assuming good data quality), the fuel economy data attached to specific (used) vehicle type / model would not be accurate. If the fuel economy baseline would serve future policy, one should be aware of a margin of error. Incentives: Import restrictions on vehicle emission standards are implemented rigorously in BiH; imported vehicles which do not satisfy the requirements on Euro 3 standard are not allowed to participate in the traffic. The Albanian authorities did not consider implementing any import restrictions so far. Attaching a fuel economy label to the windscreen of all new passenger cars at the point of sale may not be the right measure to foster more fuel efficient cars as the consumers are concerned mostly with the initial price upon purchase. Long- choice is term savings on fuel are important, however, the conditioned by the affordability levels of citizens. Buy-back programmes are sporadically implemented in Albania and BiH by certain car importers / dealers. Governments are not involved and these depend on the individual policies of the international car producers. Leasing and credit programmes of the banks which associate with the car importers / dealers, if attractive enough, may stimulate consumers to buy more efficient cars. Good loan conditions (monthly installments which fall within affordability limits of families) may be a more powerful incentive than any national taxation policy. The measures implemented worldwide to foster the fuel economy (registration fee, feebate etc.) create advantage for the rich who can afford a fuel efficient car and therefore pay less upon purchase, annual registration and fuelling. On the other hand, the poor, who drive less efficient (used) cars, pass shorter travel distances in order to save fuel and the CO2 emission may be similar (or even lower) compared to the quantities emitted by more efficient cars - driven on longer distances. Therefore the millage should be another criterion for taxation. Millage is not currently monitored upon car registration and this is a real obstacle for introducing a fair taxation systems. Priority lines, road pricing and differentiated bills for parking are Page 2

3 interesting, but the governments are not ready as the traffic systems require upgrading to accommodate such measures. Page 3

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