Air pollution: CO₂ emissions, fuel consumption of N1 light commercial vehicles (amend. Directives 70/156/EEC and 80/1268/EEC)

PURPOSE : to amend Directive 80/1268/EEC, as last amended by Directive 1999/100/EC, in order to extend the scope of the Directive to N1 vehicles (light commercial vehicles). CONTENT : currently, this Directive only applies to M1 vehicles (passenger cars). The proposal introduces harmonised mandatory requirements for the measurement of carbon dioxide and fuel consumption of N1 vehicles. It is therefore a first prerequisite to enable, monitor, and evaluate possible future fuel economy related measures for N1 vehicles in the EU. The dynamometer test method ("type I test") for the determination of exhaust emissions specified in Annex III of Directive 70/220/EEC is applicable to M1 and N1 vehicles. As an alternative, diesel vehicles of category N1 can be granted type-approval for exhaust emissions pursuant to Directive 88/77/EEC. The very same test method as in Directive 70/220/EEC is used in Directive 80/1268/EEC for the measurement of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, but it is currently only applicable to passenger cars. Therefore, the application of the test method can be extended straight-forward to cover N1 vehicles as well, in accordance with Directive 70/220/EEC. It is proposed that the new provisions should apply: - from 1 July 2003 for new type-approvals (of category N1); - from 1 January 2006 for existing type-approvals of vehicles in category N1, class I, and 1 January 2007 for existing type-approvals in category N1, class II and III. The dates which apply to existing type-approvals have been aligned with the corresponding dates of Directive 98/69/EC relating to emissions of M1 and N1 vehicles in order to avoid recurring type-approval of a particular vehicle type, which would needlessly increase the costs associated with the proposal. The measurement procedure, which is already used for emissions testing of N1 vehicles according to Directive 70/220/EEC, does not take into account the increased weight of the vehicle as a result of the carriage of goods. �