Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 3rd May, 2011.

I, PHIL HOGAN, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and with the consent of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and for the purpose of giving full effect to Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of 23 April 2009¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (CO2 from Cars Competent Authority) Regulations 2011.

2. (1) In these Regulations "EC Regulation" means Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of 23 April 2009¹ on setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community's integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the EC Regulation has the same meaning in these Regulations that it has in the EC Regulation.

3. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is designated as the competent authority in the State for the purposes of these Regulations and the EC Regulation.

GIVEN under my Seal,

22 April 2011.

LEO VARADKAR,

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

28 April 2011.

PHIL HOGAN,

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The purpose of these Regulations is to designate the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport as the competent authority for the collection and communication of the monitoring data in accordance with the CO2 from Cars Regulation. That Regulation, 443/2009 sets binding emission targets for car manufacturers selling new cars registered in the EU. The aim of the Regulation is to create incentives for the car industry to invest in new technologies. It considers that a comprehensive and accurate monitoring system is indispensable for assessing the manufacturers fleet average specific CO2 emissions in a sound manner. The manufacturing of efficient cars will lead to a reduction of CO2 emissions from such passenger cars and as such will lead to a reduction in transport emissions.

1 O.J. No. L140 5.6.2009 p. 1