Strasbourg, 14/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the line of its rapporteur Mathias Groote (PES, Germany), parliament gave its green light on 13 December in Strasbourg to a gradual toughening up on emission limits for air pollutants from motor vehicles, in particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) and diesel particles that destroy the ozone layer.
MEPs gave their decision in a first reading on the draft proposal on type approval for motor vehicles, their emissions levels and repairs. MEPs subsequently acknowledged the fact that value limits on currently authorised emissions (Euro 4 standard since January 2005) for cars and vans will not allow the EU to meet its objectives on air quality.
The Parliament is therefore requesting the Euro 5 standard to be applied from 1 September 2009 for new private cars (M1) sold on the Community market. Vehicles with a maximum weight is in excess of 2,500 Kg and which are devised for specific social requirements (to accommodate wheel chairs or more than seven passengers, including the driver), and light commercial vehicles will have until 1 September 2010 to be adapted to this standard.
At the end of the transition periods, which could run until 2011 for private cars and until 1 January 2012 for light commercial vehicles, national authorities are expected to refuse to grant EC type approval to new vehicles that do not respect the new air emission or fuel consumption standards. MEPs consider that the eighteen month deadline planned by the Commission for applying these rules and which will lead to the introduction of Euro 5 value limits up to mid-2008 was too short.
Parliament is also asking for the Euro 6 standard to be implemented, which the European Commission has not proposed. MEPs want Euro 6 to enter into force in five years after Euro 5, on 1 September 2014 for private cars and on 1 September 2015 for light commercial vehicles.
Euro 5 sets out an 80% cut in the emission limit for particulate matters from diesel cars and imposes new value limits for nitrogen oxides of 60mg/km for petrol engines and 180 mg/km for diesel engines. This strengthening of the rules will impose the obligation of equipping all new models of diesel engines with particle filters from 1 September 2009.
Euro 6 will set tighter emission limits for particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particles from diesel engines (68 % lower than today's emission limit with an 80mg/km on the current emission limit, which is expected to increase health benefits by 60 - 90% compared to the situation with Euro 5.
New diesel cars of an existing car model should be fitted with a particle filter as of January 2011. Vehicle types that benefited from the more lenient limit values for vans under Euro 4 will gradually be brought under the tougher limit values for passenger cars under Euro 6.
The text voted for by the Parliament requires information on vehicle repairs to be easily available to independent repairers, dealers and official repair garages on the basis of OASIS standards that are eventually expected to result in an International Standards Organisation norm. Commenting on the result, Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said: “The Euro 5 and 6 regulation is important for improving the environmental performance of vehicles. At the same time it will not hamper the competitiveness of the EU's car industry. It can count on a reasonable lead time to properly plan for and react to these requirements.” The vote at the European Parliament was supported by an informal compromise with the Council of the EU on 4 December, which is shortly expected to lead to the adoption of this new raft of measures, without debate, probably on 18 December at the Environment Council in Brussels. (an)