Environment MEPs rebuff member states on plans to weaken testing of diesel vehicle emissions
Date added: 15 December, 2015
On 28th October, the European Commission (EC) came to an agreement on weakening the emissions testing standards for diesel vehicles. This has been done in order to protect the European car industry, but put at risk the health of European citizens. Instead of tougher tests of how much NO2 vehicles actually produce in real world driving, the Commission proposed that “real-world” driving emissions (RDE) tests should become operational starting next year, but would only take full effect after a two-year phase-in for new vehicles from 2017. The limit is set to sink again in 2019. On 14th December the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted to reject the EC proposal, and member states. A resolution drafted by the environment committee MEPs to object to the proposal was passed with 40 votes in favour, 9 objections and 13 abstentions. Following yesterday’s vote, Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout (Greens), spokesperson of the Parliament’s Environment Committee, called the outcome an “important step towards overturning the outrageous decision by EU governments. …This test, as it stands, would essentially overwrite EU limits on pollutants from cars.” The European Parliament will vote on the resolution in the week of 18-21 January. Environment ministers will discuss the October agreement on diesel emissions on 16th December.
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Environment MEPs rebuff member states on diesel emissions
15.12.2015 (Euractiv)
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted yesterday evening (14 December) to reject a controversial proposal from the European Commission, and member states, on new emissions testing standards for diesel cars.
A resolution drafted by committee MEPs to object to the proposal was passed with 40 votes in favour, 9 objections and 13 abstentions.
On 28 October, the Commission struck an agreement with member states on rules mandating new emissions testing standards for diesel cars amid public outrage over the scandal surrounding Volkswagen’s cheated emissions reporting.
Under that compromise deal, starting in September 2017, new diesel car models would still be able to emit double the volume of pollutants allowed by legal standards. The limit is set to sink again in 2019.
The executive proposed rules for real driving emissions tests (RDE) to go into effect in 2016, and measure the emissions of cars once they’re in use, scoring more accurate results than tests done in labs. New EU-wide regulation mandating RDE testing for diesel cars has been in the works for several years.
But member states watered down the European Commission’s proposal, and agreed to a longer transition period before the new testing rules are applied.
Despite squabbling between the Commission and member states over the deal, the executive billed the draft agreement as a breakthrough on emissions testing and cited “technical limits” that prevented a quicker transition to the new standards.
>>Read: Member states resist stricter controls on diesel car emissions
Diesel cars generally produce four to five times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide once they’re on the road, according to Commission figures.
Following yesterday’s vote, Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout (Greens), spokesperson of the Parliament’s Environment Committee, called the outcome an “important step towards overturning the outrageous decision by EU governments”.
“This test, as it stands, would essentially overwrite EU limits on pollutants from cars,” Eickhout said.
“As a direct response to the ‘diesel-gate’ scandal, it would seriously damage the credibility of the EU to regulate the car industry,” he added.
In a statement yesterday, Environment Committee MEPs cited a study from the European Environment Agency that named nitrogen oxide as a cause of 75,000 premature deaths in Europe.
Julia Poliscanova, policy officer for clean vehicles and air quality at NGO Transport & Environment, applauded the MEPs’ vote and dismissed the Commission’s claim that technical constraints are standing in the way of a quick transition to lower emissions standards.
“The technology to clean up exhausts is readily available and will cost just €100 for most cars,” Poliscanova said.
The European Parliament will vote on the resolution during a plenary session in the week of 18-21 January.
Environment ministers from member states are set to discuss the October agreement on diesel emissions during a meeting on 16 December.
BACKGROUND
US regulators found that Volkswagen designed software for close to half a million diesel cars that gave false emissions data during the laboratory tests. Experts consider that tests on the road are more difficult to be cheated.
In Europe, while the European Commission and the national authorities are preparing more strict emissions limits, a number of inquiries have already been opened in France.
But the executive seems reluctant to open any kind of inquiry. Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the Internal Market Commissioner, has upset MEPs by saying that the executive intends not to act until the member states have conducted their own national investigations.
The presidents of the European Parliament´s Environment, Transport, Internal Market and Industry committees have decided to investigate how Volkswagen cars could have cheated the testing system without the fraud being picked up at any stage by the European Commission.
TIMELINE
- 16 December 2015: National environment ministers meet to discuss 28 October agreement on diesel emissions
- 18-21 January: MEPs vote in plenary session on resolution objecting the Commission and member states’ agreement
Under the compromise draft agreement between the Commission and EU member states:
- January 2016: Car makers must start measuring NOx levels on the road
- September 2017: The new tests are taken into account to authorize the vehicles, although there will be a phase-in period with some leeway for the sector
- September 2019: Car makers can exceed 50% of the 80 mg/km limit
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/transport/environment-meps-rebuff-member-states-diesel-emissions-320438
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EU car pollution rules
Controversial car emissions tests rejected by MEPs
15.12.2015 (by The Greens in the European Parliament)
The European Parliament’s environment committee this evening voted to reject a decision to introduce ‘real driving emissions’ (RDE) tests for measuring compliance with EU car pollution limits. The controversial decision by EU governments would create tests with such major loopholes (‘compliance factors’) that it would enable car manufacturers to produce and market cars that exceed EU legal limits on pollutants permanently and by a significant factor.
The European Parliament will now vote as a whole on the proposal to reject the RDE test decision, most likely in January.
Commenting after the vote, Greens/EFA vice-president and environment spokesperson Bas Eickhout said:
“Today’s vote is an important step towards overturning the outrageous decision by EU governments on creating a fundamentally-flawed driving emissions test procedure.
“This test, as it stands, would essentially overwrite EU limits on pollutants from cars. This would be an insult to EU citizens who suffer from air pollution. As a direct response to the ‘diesel-gate’ scandal, it would seriously damage the credibility of the EU to regulate the car industry. It would also represent a coup on the EU’s democratic decision-making process by de facto rewriting EU rules that were agreed with and voted on by the European Parliament.
“Against this background, we hope the European Parliament as a whole will now follow through and send the European Commission back to the drawing board. We need real driving emissions tests that do what it says on the tin: with no exemptions and which ensure all cars approved for the market comply with the EU’s pollutant limits. We know this is technically possible, as many carmakers already do. Anything else would be a failure for the EU.”
http://www.greens-efa.eu/eu-car-pollution-rules-14990.html
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European Parliament rejects ‘dieselgate’ pardon
Earlier:
Member states resist stricter controls on diesel car emissions
29 Oct 2015
In spite of the Volkswagen scandal, national governments have sought to water down the Commission´s proposal for the new emission tests.
European countries reached a compromise deal on new testing rules for cars on Wednesday (28 October) that allows vehicles to carry on emitting more than twice the agreed pollution limits, despite an outcry caused by the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
The agreement, thrashed out in extended talks, diluted a proposal from the European Commission, after many of the 28 member states demanded leeway to protect the car industry.
EU sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Netherlands had been among a handful of countries seeking stricter rules, and it alone voted against the compromise as too weak.
>>Read: Dieselgate exposes member state opposition to emissions curbs
Member states were deeply divided before the five hour meeting started. Among those calling for more latitude for the car industry, the German government said: “The diesel engine should be preserved as a powertrain option on the mass market.” Germany also said controls on enforcement of legal limits needed to be pragmatic.
The European Commission had heaped pressure on EU governments to reach a swift deal. Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said earlier on that day if member states could not agree, they would dent consumer confidence and have negative consequences for the automotive industry.
The Commission proposed that “real-world” testing should become operational starting next year, but would only take full effect after a two-year phase-in for new vehicles from 2017.
Initially nitrogen oxide (NOx) readings, primarily associated with diesel cars, could exceed an 80 milligramme/kilometre limit by 60 percent before falling to 20 percent.
Instead, the compromise agreed on Wednesday sets a “conformity factor” of 2.1 from late 2017, meaning cars could emit more than twice the official limit.
Two years later, it would fall to 1.5, the EU sources said, meaning vehicles could emit nitrogen oxides, associated with respiratory disease and premature death, up to 50 percent above the legal ceiling.
Volkswagen is battling the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history after admitting in September it installed software in diesel vehicles to deceive US regulators about toxic emissions.
In Europe, a failure to close the gap between NOx emissions in real driving conditions compared with tests, confirmed by European Commission research, has drawn unfavourable comparisons with Washington’s track record in policing business.
>>Read: VW scandal threatens case for €16bn diesel tax subsidy
BACKGROUND
US regulators found that Volkswagen designed software for close to half a million diesel cars that gave false emissions data during the laboratory tests. Experts consider that tests on the road are more difficult to be cheated.
In Europe, while the European Commission and the national authorities are preparing more strict emissions limits, a number of inquiries have already been opened in France.
But the executive seems reluctant to open any kind of inquiry. Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the Internal Market Commissioner, has upset MEPs by saying that the executive intends not to act until the member states have conducted their own national investigations.
The presidents of the European Parliament´s Environment, Transport, Internal Market and Industry committees have decided to investigate how Volkswagen cars could have cheated the testing system without the fraud being picked up at any stage by the European Commission.
POSITIONS
Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at Transport & Environment, said: “Citizens will wonder why their governments would rather help carmakers that cheat emissions tests than give them clean air to breathe.” He added that “Nitrogen dioxide pollution, mainly from diesel cars, causes premature deaths, asthma and birth abnormalities. It is shocking that governments are so keen to please carmakers and ignore the health effects of this invisible killer of over half a million citizens annually.”
Dutch Liberal MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy stated: “Today’s decision on new car emission tests is contemptible.”
Green environment spokesperson Bas Eickhout said in a statement: “We will now look at all legal means to challenge this decision and will push for the European Parliament to object to the proposal.”
Posted: Tuesday, December 15th, 2015. Filed in Air Quality, General News, Recent News.
