Replacing the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), which was developed in the 1980s, with European regulation the worldwide harmonized light duty test procedure (WLTP) means a shift in the taxable CO2 emissions threshold.

Effectively it will mean that after the date of entry into force, motorists registering new vehicles will pay more in vehicle tax than they would have under the NEDC system.

According to early estimations, the increase ranges from €32 to €66 per year.

Discussing the bill on Thursday in parliament, ministers requested an amendment to clarify that it concerned only new vehicles registered after the law enters into force.

The timeframe was also considered unrealistic. Mobility minister François Bausch (déi gréng) said the law would not be applied retroactively and would be applied only once it had been voted in. No new date was given.  

It marks the second time that we know of that the minister has pushed back the implementation date. In December, Delano cited Bausch as saying that originally he had fixed a date of 1 January 2020 for implementing the WLTP-linked vehicle tax, but granted an extension to 1 March following a letter from the House of Automobile.

The European Commission moved to introduce the new standard following the dieselgate scandal in which VW equipped engines with technology that could cheat the emission testing technology and distort results. The WLTP system differs from the NEDC standard in that it gives emission data for real driving conditions.

Minister Bausch further explained that fuel consumption rates were distorted under the existing system and as a result motorists are paying a fuel surplus in relation to the consumption advertised when they purchased their vehicle.

Carlo Back (déi gréng) was appointed rapporteur for the law.