More low-emission vehicles onto roads

The President on Thursday approved the Act on Environmental and Energy Efficiency Requirements for Vehicle and Transport Service Procurements, said the Ministry of Transport and Communications in a press release.

The Act will place obligations on municipalities and the State to ensure a certain share of zero- and low-emission vehicles in public procurement processes.

The Act will enter into force on 2 August.

The Act will implement the EU Clean Vehicles Directive. It will apply, for example, to the procurement of vehicles and transport services by municipalities, the State or parishes in relation to school transport, waste collection, local bus transport and transport reimbursed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. It will also apply to procurement through concession contracts.

“We will have low-emission public transport by the end of the ongoing decade when a significant part of transport procured by municipalities and the State will be powered by electricity or gas. In the drafting of the bill, due consideration was given to regional differences in, for example, the availability of charging infrastructure. Finland’s legislation supports the European Union’s aim to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. It is also part of the Government’s fossil-free transport programme,” said Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.

The act also takes into account regional justice. In the case of municipalities, the minimum requirement for environmentally friendly procurements will be introduced gradually based on distances, regions’ economic capacities, and the availability of charging points. In the south, municipalities will have stricter requirements than in the north.

The stricter requirements will also apply to the 17 largest cities in Finland: Espoo, Helsinki, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa and Vantaa. The act will replace the Act on Consideration for the Energy and Environmental Impact of Vehicles in Public Procurement.

The minimum requirements for low and zero-emission procurement are divided into three categories of vehicles: passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, trucks, and buses.

The obligations have been divided into two procurement periods: from 2 August 2021 to 2025 and from 2026 to 2030.

The requirements will apply when a contracting entity buys, hires, leases, hire-purchases or acquires certain transport services. The regulation will apply to new acquisitions.