Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union at the International Maritime Organization during the 66th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee on the adoption of amendments to MARPOL Annex VI concerning the delay of the Tier III NOx emission standards

The present Commission proposal concerns the establishment of the Union position at the 66th session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in relation to amendments to MARPOL Annex VI. These amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, regulation 13, paragraph 5.1 introduce a 5-year postponement of the introduction of Tier III NOx emission standards. The changes are set out in Annex 12 of the MEPC report (MEPC 65/22). Para 4.64 of this report indicates that these amendments will be adopted at MEPC 66.

Environmental protection, which is the subject-matter of the amendments to MARPOL, is a shared competence under the EU Treaty and is in very large measure regulated by Union legislation. The EU has extensively exercised its competence in the area of air and water quality policy, both through legislation and agreed policy objectives. The environment policy includes a clear commitment of the Union to improve air and water quality, including at international level.

The aim and design of the EU's air quality policy framework, as set out for example in the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution, is to make substantial progress towards the long-term EU objectives of preserving, protecting and improving the environment and protecting human health (art 191(1) TFEU), i.e "to achieve levels of air quality that do not result in unacceptable impacts on, and risks to, human health and the environment". This objective, first set out in the Sixth Environment Action Programme a decade ago, is confirmed in the 7th Environmental Action Programme recently agreed by the EU, which guides the development of EU policy until 2020, most recently reflected in the Clean Air Programme for Europe adopted by the Commission.

These policy objectives would be adversely affected by the postponement of the stricter NOx standards applicable in NOx Emission Control Areas (NECAs).

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)83: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:083:FIN

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