Bid to prolong the use of lead in petrol likely to fail

Date: 28/10/1999

By Gareth Harding

THE European Commission is likely to turn down Mediterranean member states' requests for lengthy delays before they have to implement tough new laws aimed at cutting pollution from cars.

Under legislation agreed as part of the EU's Auto-Oil programme, Union governments must ban lead in petrol by the end of this year. But Italy has asked the Commission for a three-year stay of execution and Greece and Spain have demanded a five-year waiver.

All three countries argue that their car fleets are still reliant on leaded petrol and their refineries are not ready to supply sufficient quantities of unleaded fuel by the 1 January cut-off date.

But Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström is reluctant to grant southern European countries long derogations, believing that this would set a dangerous precedent. Officials in the Commission's environment directorate-general are also said to be unimpressed by the countries' claim that banning lead would lead to severe socio-economic difficulties. “They did not make a particularly good case,” said one.

Most EU countries phased out leaded petrol years ago, and environmental campaigners claim Mediterranean countries are now paying the price for dragging their feet. “If Haiti, Bangladesh and Slovakia can all ban lead in petrol, then why can't Italy, which is a G8 member?” said Frazer Goodwin of the European Federation for Transport and the Environment.

Oil industry experts also say there is no technical problem with removing lead from petrol. “You just stop putting it in,” said one, adding: “If that is the law, we will comply with it.”

Although Portugal intends to outlaw the sale of leaded petrol at the end of this year, it has requested a three-year delay before cutting the sulphur content of motor fuels to the levels agreed last year.

Sources say the Commission might look favourably on Lisbon's request as meeting the target will require major investments in its refineries. But the institution is understood to be opposed to granting other countries more than a one-year waiver on lead.

Meanwhile, Germany has weighed into the debate by calling on EU countries to introduce sulphur-free diesel and petrol by 2007. Under current EU legislation, member states have to reduce levels of the pollutant to 50 parts per million by 2005. But Bonn says this does not go far enough to ensure the smooth functioning of catalytic converters and reduce levels of deadly particulates.

Although Germany, the UK and most Scandinavian countries already meet the 2005 targets for sulphur in fuels, the suggestion has met with a tepid response from the Commission and southern European countries.