Skip to main content

Clean engines for industrial use

The European Parliament Environment Committee has voted on the proposal to amend Directive 2009/33/EU on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles, the so-called Clean Vehicles Directive. However all amendments calling for inclusion of construction machinery into the scope of the CVD were rejected. This is in line with argumentation and awareness-raising actions undertaken by CECE, the body representing construction equipment manufacturers in Europe.
October 12, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The European Parliament Environment Committee has voted on the proposal to amend Directive 2009/33/EU on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles, the so-called Clean Vehicles Directive.


However all amendments calling for inclusion of construction machinery into the scope of the CVD were rejected. This is in line with argumentation and awareness-raising actions undertaken by 3399 CECE, the body representing construction equipment manufacturers in Europe.

CECE Secretary General Riccardo VIAGGI said: “We have no reservation on the emission reduction goals the EU has set itself and the construction machinery industry is proud of the significant advancements it has made in this regard. However, the Clean Vehicles Directive is tailored to the transport sector and is not an appropriate instrument to cover mobile machines such as those manufactured by CECE member companies.”

It is fundamental to remind that construction machinery work as part of a variety of different processes and are not intended to carry people or goods from A to B. Therefore construction equipment cannot and will not be considered as road transport such as passenger cars, buses, coaches and trucks. Regarding electrification in worksites, the different situation for recharging infrastructure and limitations on the electrical supply to support the use of purely electrical machinery (on very different power ranges) has to be clearly distinguished from road transport.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Need for defined work zone safety regulations
    April 12, 2012
    Christophe Nicodème, ERF's Director General, explores a missing link in the road safety chain Road works are an essential part of the work of public administrations and toll operators; aimed at preserving a safe road infrastructure for users, while minimising the disruption caused as a result of unavoidable traffic interventions. Given the essential role of road works, one would assume that well-defined regulations exist at national and European level to determine the best way of conducting them. Yet
  • Solar roads such as Colas’s Wattway could be the right way
    May 10, 2016
    Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research and consultancy IDTechEx, considers arguments in favour of solar roads. Nowadays a major trend is the move to off-grid clean energy created by “energy harvesting” to produce electricity where it is needed. This is more controllable and increasingly at lower cost than grid power or diesel gensets, cleaner and often less subject to interruption. It is taking new forms as revealed in the IDTechEx Research report, “High Power Energy Harvesting 2016-2026”.
  • Driver distraction is a road safety risk
    September 12, 2019
    Driver distraction is an increasing concern for the road safety sector. According to the FIA Region 2 (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), a distraction time of just two seconds is sufficient to cause a crash. The FIA’s data suggests that to 25% of road crashes are due to distraction, with 25-30% of total driving time spent on distracting activities. Commissioner Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, recently warned against distraction caused by the use of mobile phone. She said, “Distraction
  • EU missing target of halving road deaths by 2020, says ETSC
    April 12, 2018
    Halving the number of deaths on Europe’s roads by 2020 is not likely to be achieved, according to the European Transport Safety Council. The 28 members of the European Union reduced the number of road deaths by 20% from 2010-2017, far less than the 38% cut needed to stay on course to meet the 2020 target. The European Commission has just published data showing that deaths on EU roads fell by only 2% last year, following a similar decrease in 2016 and a 1% increase in 2015. “For four years in a row, the