Brussels, 03/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has decided not to oppose the lowering of the requirement level in EU rules on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel engines (EURO VI standard) in emissions tests for light road vehicles under real driving (RDE) conditions, which will be introduced in the EU in September 2017.
By a short majority, the MEPs rejected the proposal of the environment committee calling upon them to veto this plan, which they felt was illegal and harmful to the protection of the environment and public health, and which had been approved on 28 October by the technical committee of motor vehicles, then enshrined by the Council (see EUROPE 11478).
The execution decision of the European Commission, which has now been accepted by the Parliament, will increase the limit values of NOx emissions from diesel engines in RDE tests to 110% by September 2017 for new models, then 50% by January 2020 for new models and by January 2021 for all new cars. However, the Commission has provided guarantees of the revision of the compliance factors which have come under such fire and which were the reason for this relaxation of the EURO VI standard.
The objection was rejected by a very small majority. 323 MEPs voted against it. 317 voted in favour and 61 abstained. A qualified majority would have been required for a parliamentary veto. The ALDE, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and EFD groups mostly voted for the objection. The EPP, ECR and ENL groups mostly voted against it.
The S&D group, which was divided, and the abstainers tipped the balance in favour of rejection (see EUROPE 11476). The draft reformed European framework for vehicle type approvals, which went down very well and which will increase the monitoring of the markets, the independence of laboratories and the powers of the Commission (see EUROPE 11476), was certainly a factor in the outcome of the vote, as were the commitments taken by the Commission to revise the compliance factors.
The path is now clear for the adoption of this second RDE package (see EUROPE 11478).
Commission provides guarantees. Before the vote, the European commissioner for industry and the single market, Elzbieta Bienkowksa, called upon the Parliament to support the agreement concluded on 28 October, reminding the MEPs that the Commission had just proposed a new vehicle type approval system which “will give it more powers”. And to win over any MEPs still unconvinced, she took pains to read out an official statement on behalf of the European Commission assuring that the compliance factor of 1.5 will be brought down to 1 as soon as possible and by 2023 at the latest.
“The Commission is prepared to use the revision clause from 2017, on an annual basis”, she said. In this statement, the Commission also recognised the need to ensure that the adoption of measures and procedures regarding the compliance factors will in the future come “via delegated acts”, as the Parliament is calling for, rather than by implementing acts (in other words by comitology), which puts it out of the loop.
Those who rejected the objection did not spend long discussing the raising of the limit values for NOx from diesel engines, opting instead to stress the value of setting in place tests under real driving conditions, which are more reliable than laboratory tests. “This could not be done without a transition with equally strict limits for such different tests. The limits will be revised over the years to improve the performance of these tests”, said Françoise Grossetête (EPP, France), who feels that the Commission's statement offers sufficient guarantees.
Others find it unacceptable that the European legislation (Regulation 715/2007), which was adopted by the Parliament and the Council in 2007, has been modified within a regulatory committee and that a 'gift' has been given to car manufacturers in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. “The Commission and the Council are raising emission standards through the back door”, lamented Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Netherlands). Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France) said that “this vote is a political mistake and a missed opportunity for the Parliament to veto a decision which is both illegal and anti-democratic. It is intolerable that after the Volkswagen scandal, the member states and the Commission have given into the siren calls of the automotive industry”. What makes matters even worse is the fact that “the European car manufacturers have already had nearly 10 years to come into line with the new standards on NOx emissions”, said Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France). “They have no more excuses and the Parliament should have taken a tougher line with the manufacturers which, unlike other ones, have not invested in the efficient technologies and in favour of sustainable jobs”, she added.
The MEPs from Parliament's environment committee, which is chaired by Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), will hold an exchange of views on the RDE on 23 February. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)