At their December 1998 meeting, European Environment Ministers agreed to: (a) compulsory labelling of all new cars sold, giving consumers clear information on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions; and (b) the collection of data to monitor the voluntary agreement reached with European car manufacturers (ACEA) in October to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars by 25% by 2008. The new labelling scheme will give consumers instant access to environmental information on the cars on sale in the showroom. These Europe-wide labels will give consumers a clear idea of a cars CO2 emissions and its fuel consumption – helping to show just how green' their new car will be.
The Directive on labelling forms part of the the EU strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars. As well as fuel economy labels, the Directive also requires posters to be displayed outlining information on all models available from the dealer and a fuel economy guide covering all cars in the UK to be provided free of charge to the consumer.