Brussels, 19/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - Members of the European Parliament and even certain political groups, such as the S&D, are divided over whether to oppose the planned decision aiming, by European Commission implementing act, to raise the upper limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel engines under EU legislation to 110%. The plenary session debate on the proposed objection of the committee on the environment of the Parliament, in Strasbourg on the evening of Monday 18 January, made this quite clear.
There was unanimity on one point and one point alone: the absence of a Council representative from the debate with the Commissioner for the Single Market and Industry, Elzbieta Bienkowska, caused outcry among all MEPs.
For the remainder, two opposing camps have emerged. On one side, the Greens/EFA, GUE and ALDE are not prepared to agree to any concessions when public health is at stake and reject the idea of relaxing EU legislation when the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test procedure is brought in, following the Volkswagen scandal. The second camp comprises the EPP and certain S&D members from car-producing countries which, like the Commission, are prepared to agree to relax the legal requirements so as not to delay the introduction of the new RDE tests, calling instead for the European type-approval system for vehicles to be revised and the monitoring of national procedures improved.
What the committee on the environment wants is for the draft to be withdrawn and replaced by a new proposal to be submitted as soon as possible, by 1 April 2016 at the latest, when the RDE tests are brought in, stressed Benedek Javor (Greens/EFA, Hungary), who put forward arguments to justify the recommendation to object to the plans for emissions from private cars and light utility vehicles. He went on to point out that NOx gases cause lung cancer, asthma and respiratory diseases, leading, according to the European Environment Agency, to 75,000 early deaths in the EU every year, whilst also causing environmental eutrophication and acidification.
Writing out a blank cheque for private cars and light utility vehicles emitting 168 mg/km of NOx from September 2016, or four years after the EURO VI standard stipulating 80 mg/km came into force, “is not in line with Regulation 715/2007 and exceeds the implementing powers provided for by Regulation 396/2005. This undermines the Regulation, but also the credibility of the regulatory bodies of the EU”, he said (see EUROPE 11454). The EP's vote on the proposed opposition has been postponed until the February plenary session, to the great regret of the Greens/EFA (see EUROPE 11469).
Regulatory proposal imminent on transparency of compliance factors. Commissioner Bienkowska stressed the urgent need, in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, to remedy the unreliability of laboratory tests and said that she firmly believed that a veto from the EP would only result in the current testing system being in place for longer. “We have found a single and adequate solution. We are the first in the world to introduce RDE tests. It will no longer be possible to cheat in the tests”, she stressed. And although the member states have agreed to increase the emissions limit to 168 mg/km between now and September 2017, this limit will be reduced to 120 mg/km by 1 January 2020. Even though the “European Commission wanted a stricter compliance factor”, the agreement concluded on 28 October in comitology and enshrined by the Council nonetheless constitutes “substantial progress”, she said, as it will “force the industry to pick up the pace” and start work now on designing cleaner cars that will be on the roads in five years' time.
Bienkowska also stressed that an annual revision clause is built in, so that the emissions limits can be changed from 2020 onwards if technological progress has been made. “Every year, the European Commission will evaluate the portable emissions measurement system (a system which measures emissions in real driving conditions) and, if technology has moved on, from 2020 we will have the legal possibility to come down to 80 mg/km”, she added, making clear that the Commission will be starting work soon in order to keep to the deadline of the end of the year.
She also went on to announce that “in the course of 2016”, the Commission is to present a third regulatory package on RDE tests to improve transparency, so that the compliance factors are shown on the compliance certificates and consumers are fully aware of the emissions performance of their vehicle. “I will propose a text which will be examined at the College next week. There will be safeguard procedures and the Commission will be authorised to intervene and comment on the corrective measures adopted by the member states”, the Commissioner said. With regard to this, she said that the exchange of information and cooperation between member states would be reinforced. “I hope to oblige the member states to improve market monitoring and step up controls on all vehicles sold on their territory”, she said.
Regarding the proposals for the EURO V and EURO VI standards and the discussions underway on the delegated acts to be entrusted to the Commission, Bienkowska stressed that the Commission was “prepared to work with the Parliament and Council to find a balanced solution. We hope to achieve our environmental objectives in full respect of the inter-institutional balance”, she said, adding that she believes that “this new legal framework will restore the citizens' confidence in the automotive sector, protect the environment and the consumer”. Whereupon Ivo Belet (EPP, Belgium) said: “The European Parliament wants delegated acts, not implementing acts”. Many MEPs expressed annoyance at the fact that the European Commission has used an implementing act for NOx emissions from diesel engines in order to cut the European Parliament out of the loop, even though it is co-legislator.
Readers may recall that the highly controversial agreement on relaxing standards in the framework of the second 'RDE package' was concluded on 28 October by comitology procedure (by the experts of the member states and the European Commission meeting within the technical committee for motor vehicles). The Parliament and the Council have reserved a right of scrutiny until 24 February. After this date, the MEPs will no longer be able to oppose the move. If they do decide to object, they will have to do so by an absolute majority (whilst the Council can do so by qualified majority). In the event of a veto, there are two options: either the Commission submits an amended proposal in the framework of the same comitology procedure, or it submits a legislative proposal under co-decision. “But the idea is to put an ambitious package into place as soon as possible”, Bienkowska's spokesperson told the press in Brussels on Tuesday 19 January. She stressed that the differences between emissions under laboratory conditions and under real driving conditions shown at Renault “illustrate the need for progress”. On the afternoon of Thursday 21 January, the Commissioner is to meet the CEO of Volkswagen as a follow-up to the meeting held in Strasbourg in late November (see other article). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)