Brussels, 15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - There will be no relaxation of limits demanded by EU legislation on NOx emissions from diesel cars in future real driving emissions (RDE) tests.
On Monday 14 December, the European Parliament's environment and public health committee voted to oppose the draft decision to raise diesel car emission limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx) by up to 110%, as provided for in the agreement concluded by comitology procedure on 28 October (see EUROPE 11421).
Immediately this highly controversial agreement was reached, MEPs complained that, in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, the member states and the Commission had taken advantage of the introduction of new testing procedures under real driving conditions (second RDE package) to authorise car makers to exceed legal value limits until 2019 (see EUROPE 11429).
In supporting its motion for rejection, approved by a comfortable majority of 40 votes to 9, with 13 abstentions), the committee argued that this procedure had not been explained, that it cannot be justified and that, furthermore, it is harmful to health and the environment.
The motion for rejection will be put to the European Parliament which will be called on to reject the proposal at its plenary session on 18-21 January 2016. The Parliamentary committee highlights in particular that: - air pollution causes over 430,000 premature deaths in the EU every year and costs up to an estimated €940 billion per year as a result of its health impacts; - nitrogen oxides (NOx) are major air pollutants which cause, inter alia, lung cancer, asthma and many respiratory diseases, as well as environmental degradation such as eutrophication and acidification; - diesel vehicle exhausts are a principal source of NOx in urban areas in Europe; - recent air pollution analyses by the European Environment Agency attribute 75,000 premature deaths to NO2 emissions in Europe, with 93% of all exceedances occurring close to roads.
The second RDE package, approved by the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles on 28 October, introduces new emissions requirements for private cars and light vans (EURO VI standard) in two phases. As a first step, car makers would have to bring down the discrepancy between the limit measured in testing and the regulatory limit to a “conformity factor” of a maximum of 2.1 (110%) for new models by September 2017 (and for new vehicles by September 2019). As a second step, this discrepancy would be brought down to a factor of 1.5 (50%), taking account of technical margins of error, by January 2020 for all new models (and by January 2021 for all new cars). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)