The issue of the compliance factor on the measurement of motor vehicle emissions was divided on Thursday 26 September at the Competitiveness Council: Member States with a large automotive sector were in favour of a swift adoption of the European Commission Regulation, unlike several northern European Member States, which called for an increased goal for the European Union.
As a reminder, after a judgment in December by the EU General Court, which rejected certain provisions of the second RDE Act (real driving emissions) concerning compliance factors (which defines the permissible deviation between the regulatory emission limit and the values measured under real driving conditions), the European Commission submitted a new legislative proposal (see EUROPE 12275/15).
During the meeting, the Finnish Minister of Employment, Timo Harakka, insisted on the need to reach an agreement before February 2020, in order to provide legal certainty for car manufacturers. “It's extremely dangerous”, said the Commissioner for Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, explaining that the absence of an agreement before that date “would mean that the production of car models would have to end earlier than planned and scheduled”. According to projections, it could be about 8 million units that could be stopped early, she said.
Not surprisingly, this line has been joined by car-producing Member States such as France and Germany, as well as the automotive sector's “hinterlands”, i.e., Eastern Member States. These countries do not want to change the compliance levels (2.1 for new car models until 2020 and 1.43 after 2020) and want to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
On the contrary, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland, which do not have a significant automotive sector, have called for an increase in ambitions in this area.
According to one source, an agreement could be reached by the end of the year. On the other hand, eyes are turning to the European Parliament, where the debates are expected to be intense. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)