"[The] Commission proposes 2030 zero-emissions [of CO2] target for new city buses and 90% emissions reductions for new trucks by 2040," the statement read.
The commission stated it planned to impose more strict emission standards for all new heavy-duty vehicles to achieve around 45% emissions reductions in 2030 and 65% in 2035.
The proposal should be approved by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament before going into effect.
The European Association of Automotive Suppliers called the proposal "extremely ambitious."
"The European Commission has today published its revision of the CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), proposing extremely ambitious intermediate targets in 2030 (45%) and in 2035 (65%)," the association said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, the European Parliament passed a draft bill that would require new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the European Union to produce zero emissions to enter the EU market from 2035 as part of the EU's fight against climate change.
The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said in a statement on the website that reaching the -45% target by 2030 is a highly ambitious task.
"We are ready to deliver. However, reaching -45% already by 2030 is highly ambitious. It would require equally ambitious action by policymakers to ensure that the other players in the transport and logistics value chain deliver at the same time," ACEA Commercial Vehicle Board Chairman and Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt said in the statement.
He added that more than 50,000 chargers for trucks would have to be put in operation in the next seven years to achieve the target.
"A CO2 reduction of 45% by 2030 means that more than 400,000 zero-emission trucks would have to be on the road, and at least 100,000 new zero-emissions trucks registered annually. This would require over 50,000 publicly-accessible chargers suitable for trucks to be in operation within just seven years, of which some 35,000 should be high-performance chargers (megawatt charging system). It would additionally require some 700 hydrogen refilling stations," Lundstedt said.
In 2019, the commission adopted the so-called European Green Deal, intended to cut carbon emissions in all sectors of the economy, including aviation, and build a resource-efficient and eco-friendly economy, with a net carbon-neutral target set for 2050.