Emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 6)

The European Parliament rejected (317 votes to 323, with 61 abstentions) a motion for a resolution which objects to the draft Commission regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 as regards emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 6).

The motion for a resolution was tabled by the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

To recall, Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets the Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission standards and requires manufacturers to equip their vehicles so that they meet the emission requirements ‘in normal use’.

The draft Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 as regards emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 6) states that for the purpose of establishing the quantitative real driving emission (RDE) requirements statistical and technical uncertainties of the measurement procedures should be taken into account. The draft measure also allows for a margin ‘taking into account the additional measurement uncertainties related to the application of Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS).

Under the draft measure, manufacturers will be required to ensure that, at type approval and throughout the life of a vehicle, emissions emitted at an RDE test do not exceed certain ‘not-to-exceed (NTE) limit values’; the NTE limit values are expressed as the emission limits set out in Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 multiplied by a conformity factor and a transfer function.

The committee considered that the transfer function multiplier in the formula for NTE limits is not explained or justified and that the draft measure would undermine any enforcement of the existing limit values established in Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 as regards the evidenced significant exceedances in normal use of vehicle NOx emissions until enforcement of the RDE test.

Members considered that the draft Commission Regulation would result in a de facto blanket derogation from applicable emissions limits, and is therefore not consistent with Union law, in that it is not compatible with the aim and content of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The motion for a resolution called on the Commission to withdraw the draft regulation and submit a new one without delay and no later than 1 April 2016, in order to introduce a real driving emissions test for all vehicles with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of emission control systems and enabling vehicles to comply with Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 and its implementing measures, with a conformity factor reflecting only the possible tolerances of the emissions measurement procedure in place by 2017.

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety  is opposed to the adoption of the measure, while also stressing that:

• air pollution causes over 430 000 premature deaths in the Union every year and costs up to an estimated EUR 940 billion annually as a result of its health impacts;
• nitrogen oxides (NOx) are major air pollutants which cause, inter alia, lung cancer, asthma and many respiratory diseases, as well environmental degradation, such as eutrophication and acidification;
• diesel vehicle exhausts are a major source of NOx in urban areas in Europe;
• recent air pollution analyses by the European Environment Agency attribute 75 000 premature deaths to NO2 emissions in Europe, with 93 % of all exceedances occurring close to roads.