Brussels, 14/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - During the term of office of former environment commissioner Stavros Dimas (2004-2010), the priority was not to adopt a new test cycle to measure vehicle emissions but to bring in new European emission standards. That was what he told the European Parliament's committee of inquiry (EMIS) responsible for shedding light on cheat software.
Having to wait for new, more representative tests to be developed would have greatly delayed the entry into force of euro 5 and euro 6 standards, said Dimas, the first leading political figure to appear before MEPs. He said that, under his watch, the major issues were fine particles (PM 2.5, 5 and 10) and CO2, not the nitrogen oxides (NOx) of the Volkswagen scandal (EUROPE 11394).
Nonetheless, Dimas acknowledged that the measurements collected by means of the new European driving cycle (NEDC), which dates from 1970, were the Achilles heel of the regulatory framework on type approval of motor vehicles (Regulation 715/2007). Had the measurements been more representative, air quality in Europe would be much better under the standards set, he said.
The former commissioner regretted the amount of time needed to put in place these new emissions tests under real driving conditions when provision was made for them in the 2007 regulation. “Ten years is too long”, he said, criticising the slowness of the European decision-making process. He pointed out that, as early as 2007, he had called on the Commission's joint research centre (JRC) to look at emissions testing under real conditions. This was to reduce the weight of the portable emissions measurement system (PEMS), on-board emissions measuring equipment weighing close to 150 kg, thereby affecting the results for light vehicles.
When asked about his relationships with the Commission's Directorate General Enterprise and including with commissioner Günter Verheugen, Dimas acknowledged that there had been regular disagreements. But, he said, that is the very essence of cooperation, the whole purpose being to achieve tangible results, though these could be improved upon. Joint rapporteur Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, Netherlands) stated the position of former commissioner Verheugen who disavowed the legal text.
In the course of the questioning by MEPs, Dimas hinted at a number of regrets, for example, on the composition of the high-level CARS21 group that was responsible for drafting the outlines of EU legislation on the car industry. He said that, on the group, there were too many from the industry itself and too few MEPs.
Case of former commissioner Verheugen highlighted. Several MEPs drew attention by contrast to the stance adopted by former industry commissioner Günter Verheugen, who four times declined the Parliament's invitation to appear before the committee EUROPE 11588). In the face of mounting pressure, Verheugen finally has agreed to appear before the committee of inquiry on 30 August (EUROPE 11590). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)