CountEmissionsEU: EU rules on transport emissions. Do they apply to you?

A customer asks for the CO₂e of each delivery. A tender gives points for a low transport footprint. Three calculators show three different results for the same route. The EU has now set how such numbers must be calculated and what must stand next to them.

• CountEmissionsEU: one EU method for companies that give customers the emissions of specific transport services.
• Who it does not cover: companies that do not share transport emissions and have no contract or law that asks for them.
• From when: the rules apply from 2 December 2030; EU databases and a free calculator come first.
• How to calculate: EN ISO 14083, primary data first, and a set statement next to each result.
• Verification: large companies have their data checked by an accredited body; SMEs are exempt unless they ask for it.

What is CountEmissionsEU?

CountEmissionsEU is Regulation (EU) 2026/1030. It sets one method to calculate and report the emissions of freight and passenger transport. The EU adopted it on 29 April 2026. CountEmissionsEU is the name the European Commission gave to the initiative. The legal text itself does not use it.

You will see several spellings of the same name: CountEmissionsEU, CountEmissions EU and Count Emissions EU. All of them refer to the same rules. The regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 May 2026 and entered into force on 1 June 2026.

The rules cover road, rail, sea, river and air transport. They also cover handling in warehouses, terminals and hubs. There is one geographic condition: the service starts or ends in the EU. So a carrier from outside the EU, for example from the UK, is covered when its service starts or ends in the EU. Some services start and end outside the EU. They are also covered if they stop in the EU to load or unload goods or pick up passengers.

The key idea is emissions per single transport service: this shipment, this trip, this order. It does not mean the total emissions of a company for a year.

The aim is practical. Today, you can calculate the same trip in several ways, with different factors and limits. A customer cannot compare offers. The EU says openly that one method should stop misleading claims about emissions, in other words greenwashing in logistics.

What does the duty to calculate transport emissions mean?

The duty is about how you calculate, not whether you calculate. The EU decided that an order for all carriers to calculate would go too far. So CountEmissionsEU works another way. It does not make you calculate. But if you calculate and share the result, you must use one method. The duty covers three cases in which a company calculates and shares the emissions of a given service:

1. Under a contract: the customer has written into the contract that it will get emissions data for each order.
2. Voluntarily, for commercial reasons: the company shows the footprint of a service in an offer, an invoice, a customer portal or sales materials.
3. Under another law: EU or national law requires such data.

In practice, this covers most carriers that already answer customer questions about emissions. A company that sends results from any calculator will have to use the CountEmissionsEU method from December 2030.

A duty to calculate at all may come from three places:

1. Contracts with customers: large shippers already ask carriers for emissions data. The regulation gives them a ready standard to write into the contract.
2. National law: an EU country may require primary data from carriers above a set number of employees. This applies only to domestic transport and never to SMEs.
3. A future review: by 3 December 2034, the Commission must present a report. It will look at what a duty to calculate and share emissions would mean.

Does CountEmissionsEU apply to your company? Check your role

The regulation names several roles in the transport chain. One company can have more than one of them.

• Carrier: transports goods or people with its own vehicles. It is covered if it gives customers the emissions of trips or orders.
• Transport service organiser: a freight forwarder or logistics firm that hires others for part of the chain. Its emissions also include the parts done by them.
• Hub operator: a warehouse, transfer terminal, port or hub. It calculates the emissions of handling goods or passengers at the hub.
• Shipper: a manufacturer or trader that orders transport. It is covered when it calculates and shows the footprint of its deliveries, for example to customers in an offer.
• Data intermediary: a platform or service that shows the emissions of transport services without organising them. It must name its data source and follow the rules on sharing results.
• Developer of a calculation tool: a supplier of a calculator or a transport management system used by others. The tool will need a certificate of conformity.

Who is not covered?

The regulation does not apply to emissions reported in aggregated form. So it does not cover:

• the annual carbon footprint of a company under the GHG Protocol;
• transport emissions in Scope 3 category 4 and category 9, reported together for the year;
• sustainability reporting under the CSRD.

Still, the two will meet. If the methods match, you can use data on single services in your annual report. This is good news for a company that calculates Scope 3. It will get comparable data from carriers, not results from three different calculators.

How to calculate transport emissions under CountEmissionsEU?

The common method is the standard EN ISO 14083:2023 on greenhouse gas emissions from transport chains. You calculate emissions well-to-wheel. This covers burning fuel or using energy in the vehicle and at the hub, and also producing and delivering that energy. You do not need to count emissions from building vehicles and roads. The Commission will look at this when it reviews the rules.

Our service page lists the data we collect for each mode of transport and for warehouses: transport carbon footprint under ISO 14083.

Primary data or default values?

The regulation sets an order: primary data first. This means measured fuel or energy use and real weights and distances. You may use secondary data only from certain sources:

• the core EU database: default values for typical vehicles, run by the Commission with help from the European Environment Agency;
• other databases: only those that pass a quality check by the Commission; a positive result is valid for two years;
• the central EU database: default emission factors for fuels and other energy carriers used in transport;
• modelled data: from a model in line with EN ISO 14083 and these databases.

Both EU databases will be free and open in all EU languages. When the Commission updates the values, companies have 18 months to switch to the new data. You do not need to correct results that you have already published.

A carrier may also calculate emissions before the trip. It can then use its own primary data from similar trips in the past year.

Electricity in transport

For electric vehicles and the power supply of hubs, the default is the location-based method. You may use the market-based method if you meet the conditions in Annex J of EN ISO 14083. We explain the difference between the two methods in the article on location-based and market-based emissions.

What must the emissions information include?

The result of the calculation, called output data in the regulation, includes at least the total mass of CO₂e per service. It also includes one indicator for the type of service:

• freight transport: CO₂e per tonne-kilometre;
• freight hub: CO₂e per tonne;
• passenger transport: CO₂e per passenger-kilometre;
• passenger hub: CO₂e per passenger.

You give the information clearly and, where possible, before the service starts or the contract is signed, so that the customer can compare offers. Next to the result, you must state that the emissions were calculated in line with Regulation (EU) 2026/1030. Use at least one official EU language and, where possible, the language of the country where the service takes place.

You may add three pieces of information:

1. whether the data have been verified;
2. whether the result is based only on primary data;
3. whether you used the EU calculation tool.

Note the second point: you may say that you used primary data only if a verification has confirmed it.

You must also keep records of the calculation, made under the reporting rules of EN ISO 14083. You show them to the verifier and, on request, to a court or another authority. The best way to share the result and the records is a link or a QR code.

Who verifies the data, and are SMEs exempt?

An accredited body checks the data that a company shares on the market. It must be independent of the company that did the calculation. Each EU country has a national body that grants the accreditation. The verifier checks:

• the calculation method;
• the sources of input data;
• the correctness of the calculation;
• the factors used.

After a positive check, the company gets proof of conformity, valid across the EU. The Commission will set how often the checks take place, and other details, in further acts. We explain how verification differs from other ways of confirming data in the article on verification, validation and assurance.

You can already have your ISO 14083 calculation checked in a voluntary, independent verification before the new rules apply.

SMEs are exempt from verification unless they ask for it, for example to show a customer proof of conformity. An SME has fewer than 250 staff. Its turnover is up to €50 million, or its balance sheet is up to €43 million. The rules also ask large companies not to demand checks from small partners without good reason.

Two facilities cut the costs:

1. The EU calculation tool: a free calculator from the Commission for carriers, mainly small ones. If you use it, nobody needs to check your maths.
2. Checks from other systems: shipping and aviation data checked under the EU MRV system or the EU ETS count as verified.

Outside tools that calculate emissions will need a certificate of conformity, valid for two years. The Commission will publish a list of certified tools.

CountEmissionsEU timeline

The regulation is already in force. But the rules for companies will start only after the EU builds the tools they rely on.

What to do before Regulation 2026/1030 applies?

A few years is a long time, but not when you must change how you collect data from your fleet and partners. We advise carriers, freight forwarders and warehouse operators to start with four steps:

1. Check where you already show transport emissions: offers, invoices, customer portals, supplier questionnaires and tenders. From December 2030, the rules will cover each of these places.
2. Review your calculator: does it follow EN ISO 14083 and calculate well-to-wheel?
3. Collect primary data: fuel and energy use per vehicle, cargo weights, real distances and energy use in warehouses.
4. Review contracts with customers and subcontractors: which emissions data you promise and which you receive.

Shippers that calculate Scope 3 can already ask carriers for data under EN ISO 14083. Our checklist of supplier data for the carbon footprint includes a model request and a list of the data you need.

Do you want to see how your data and your current calculation fit the new rules? We will calculate your transport carbon footprint under ISO 14083 for chosen routes or for your whole fleet.

Frequently asked questions

Source: Regulation (EU) 2026/1030 on the greenhouse gas emissions accounting of transport services, OJ L, 12.5.2026.