Air pollution: emissions from motor vehicles, Auto-oil programme (amend. Directive 70/220/EEC)

The common position is by and large in accordance with the Commission proposal while adopting the most important amendments tabled by Parliament. The main points of the common position are as follows: - Amendment of the title of the directive: it no longer contains a reference to amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC since the Council no longer draws up general provisions concerning vehicle conformity; - Stricter emission conditions: the Council has adopted the Commission's approach but moved back from 31 December 1998 to 30 June 1999 the deadline for submission by the Commission of proposals concerning stricter emission limits; - Tests for the measurement of exhaust gases and evaporation: the common position confirms the changes in the test procedures, the limit values and the deadlines proposed by the Commission regarding the compulsory phase 2000 and the indicative phase 2005; - Tax incentives: the Council has amended the proposed system to the effect that incentives for the second phase would only be authorized from 1 January 2000 so as to reduce the number of standards likely to be applied simultaneously on European territory; - Monitoring of emissions from vehicles: the principal difference in respect of the initial proposals is a more stringent requirement concerning inspections by manufacturers of vehicles used on the territory of the Union; - On-board diagnostic (OBD) systems: the Council simplified Annex XI replacing certain legislative provisions such as the list of malfunction codes and rules of access and interoperability by reference to corresponding ISO standards. It took the view that OBD systems should be compulsory for diesel vehicles from 1 January 2005. It added a further point seeking to ensure access to technical information for operators outside the manufacturer's network. Finally it recalled the need to define as soon as possible an appropriate type-approval procedure for emission control components intended for the components market and which concern the functioning of OBD systems; - A new test under cold conditions: the common position introduced a new test under cold conditions (-7C) by and large similar to that proposed by Parliament. A further deadline of two years was recorded regarding the entry into force of the general standards to enable official testing centres and manufacturers to acquire the necessary equipment to carry out the test. Finally, the principles and implementation procedures of the auto-oil programme proposed by the Commission were confirmed. The deadline for tabling further proposals on expiry of the programme was put back for six months to 30 June 1999. �