Image shows a traffic jam of cars and lorries on a motorway.

On 16 November 2020, the House of Lords is due to debate three statutory instruments:

The instruments are subject to the draft affirmative procedure. They must be approved by each House before coming into force.

What do the regulations do?

Draft Road Vehicles and Non-Road Mobile Machinery (Type-Approval) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Under the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, EU rules related to vehicle and engine type approval schemes will still apply to Northern Ireland.

These regulations amend the Draft Road Vehicles and Non-Road Mobile Machinery (Type-Approval) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 to make it compatible with the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol. The regulations amend the 2019 regulations so that they will apply to Great Britain only. They also ensure the type approval scheme works effectively in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland.

In addition, the regulations allow manufacturers based in Great Britain who sell to Northern Ireland to use the Northern Ireland approval scheme to register their motor vehicles in Great Britain. They also remove current height requirements for type approval in Great Britain.

The regulations will come into force once the UK has exited the transition period.

Draft Road Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emission Performance Standards (Cars and Vans) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The regulations amend retained EU regulations to ensure that the UK Government can continue to regulate CO2 emissions from newly registered cars and vans in Great Britain after the UK’s transition period with the EU ends.

The explanatory memorandum details the changes to be made to the current EU regulations in this area. These include:

  • Changes to the way manufacturers can apply for exemptions from their CO2 targets. Under the current EU system, manufacturers can apply for an exemption from their targets if their total registrations for that year fall below a certain pre-defined threshold. These thresholds are not able to be directly applied to the UK system, as different manufactures have different shares of EU sales in the UK. Instead, the UK will give each manufacturer an individual threshold, based on its share of EU sales in the UK in 2017. 2017 was chosen because the previous SI was based on this information, and as such manufacturers have already started to prepare for the change in threshold using this data.
  • Removing any newly registered vehicle that has been moved permanently to Northern Ireland (or elsewhere outside Great Britain) within three months of its registration date from Great Britain’s emissions target, so that the vehicle is not counted in both the EU and Great Britain’s targets.

The regulations apply to England, Scotland and Wales and will come into force when the UK exits the transition period.

Draft New Heavy Duty Vehicles (Carbon Dioxide Emission Performance Standards) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

The regulations retain two EU regulations regarding heavy duty vehicles’ (HDV) CO2 emissions in UK law. The first regulation sets out targets for reducing HDV CO2 emissions by 15% in 2025–9 and by 30% from 2030. The second regulation sets out monitoring and reporting requirements.

The explanatory memorandum states that the regulations make two amendments to the current EU regulations. These amendments:

  • change the reporting year dates; and
  • transfer responsibility for publishing the annual report from the European Commission to the UK Secretary of State.

The regulations apply to the whole of the UK and will come into force when the UK has exited the transition period.

What parliamentary scrutiny has taken place?

The regulations have been considered by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Neither committee drew them to the attention of the House.

The regulations will be considered by a Delegated Legislation Committee in the House of Commons on 11 November 2020.

Cover image by Gerhard G. on Pixabay.