Call for time-out in Auto Oil talks

Date: 04/06/1998

By Simon Coss

EUROPE'S carmakers have called 'time out' in ongoing talks on new measures to cut pollution from road traffic.

Industry lobby ACEA argues that it is pointless pressing ahead with the current 'Auto-Oil II' discussions on reducing exhaust emissions until the Union's politicians have reached agreement on the original programme.

The final shape of the first package of Auto-Oil measures has still to be settled in conciliation talks between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Although those negotiations have not yet begun officially, representatives of both sides are currently holding informal discussions aimed at narrowing the gap between the two sides before formal talks start.

“ACEA suggested a 'time out' while we wait for the results of the conciliation talks,” explained the group's Auto-Oil expert Luc Bastard.

The UK has said it hopes that the whole issue will be resolved before it hands over the EU presidency to Austria at the end of this month.

London's optimism is shared by Finnish Green MEP Heidi Hautala, one of the Parliament's two rapporteurs on the Auto-Oil proposals, who said: “I think it will be likely before the end of June.”

But Bastard is less upbeat about the prospects for an early resolution.

“The problem is to solve the issue of cars and fuels,” he explained. “I am sure there is movement on the part of the auto industry. I am not so sure it is the case for the fuel industry.”

Bringing the oil and car industries together to tackle the problem of pollution is the fundamental principle underpinning the whole Auto-Oil concept.

When it was launched in 1992, the scheme was regarded as innovative because it brought together the European Commission and the two relevant business sectors to try to draft new anti-pollution laws.

In June 1996, the fruit of those negotiations was unveiled by the Commission in the form of a set of proposals aimed at reducing car pollution by 60-70&percent; by 2010.

Since then however, relations between the two industries have deteriorated, with the carmakers complaining they are being forced to bear the brunt of meeting the new tougher standards while the oil companies have got off comparatively lightly.

The 1996 Auto-Oil proposals were subsequently tightened up by both the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. However, the changes called for by MEPs went further than government ministers wanted, triggering the need for conciliation talks between the two sides to try to settle their differences.

Auto-Oil II is supposed to build on the first programme by suggesting a new raft of anti-pollution measures to be adopted by 1999 and put into force by 2005. As well as tackling road transport, it will also take into account emissions from factories and power stations.

The second round of talks will involve what some observers have dubbed “a cast of thousands”. There will be many more participants than the original negotiations, with representatives from national administrations and environmental campaigners taking part.