Verheugen refuses to budge on car emissions

By Emily Smith

Date: 01/12/05

The European Commission intends to press ahead with new car emission standards in the face of objections from Stavros Dimas, the environment commissioner, and dozens of lobby groups.

The Commission's enterprise department believes that responses from environment and industry groups show that its draft standards were right.

When a draft version of the 'Euro 5' standards for cars was published in July, it was heavily criticised by many of the 50 lobby groups and governments who responded to the public consultation. There was wide disagreement over whether the air pollution standards proposed were too soft or too tough.

According to Commission officials, the enterprise department under Commissioner Günter Verheugen is now pushing to propose the draft formally with no amendments.

Euro standards set emission limits for pollutants from new cars. Euro 4 has been in force since the beginning of this year. The draft Euro 5 suggested a further 80% reduction for particulate emissions and 20% for nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel cars. Petrol cars would face a 25% cut for NOx and hydrocarbons.

Verheugen and Commission President José Manuel Barroso have repeatedly stressed the importance of public consultation and impact assessments in the drive for better regulation.

But the launch of the July consultation took many interest groups by surprise, as a final proposal had been expected that month. Several interpreted it as the Commission paying lip-service to consultation rather than providing a genuine chance for lobby groups to influence the final version of the directive.

But Commission spokesman Gregor Kreuzhuber said the decision not to change anything "just shows we got it right". "That's not necessarily a given," he said, "which is why we had a consultation, but our decision shows we had more or less found the right balance between ambitious environmental goals and not putting too much of a burden on industry."

Kreuzhuber confirmed that although there would be "some changes in the small print" from the draft proposal, these would not affect the emission levels proposed.

But it is not only respondents from outside the Commission who disagree over whether the draft struck the right balance. Last-minute opposition from Verheugen's environment counterpart Dimas has also, according to one Commission source, delayed final publication by a fortnight, to 21 December.

Dimas is said to be pushing for a significant reduction in the suggested level of NOx. He also wants a clear commitment that the adopted standards will be followed by a more ambitious Euro 6 proposal.

Alfredo Filippone of the European car manufacturers' association ACEA said that his group remained concerned about the proposal to apply Euro 5 standards 18 months after the directive entered into force, saying that this would be too soon for industry to cope. The proposed emission reductions for petrol cars were also, he said, "unnecessary".

Jos Dings of green transport group T&E said that, in all the consultation submissions, "I didn't see any proposals for more lenient emission standards. Even [car industry group] ACEA didn't actually propose anything softer, even though they said the draft targets would be hard to meet."

Article reports that the European Commission intended to go ahead with new car emission standards in the face of objections from Stavros Dimas, the Environment Commissioner, and dozens of lobby groups. The European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry believed that responses from environment and industry groups were showing that its draft standards were right.

ACEA: Press Release, 21.12.05: Euro 5 Draft Proposal Fails to Address Some Key Concerns of the European Automotive Industry http://www.acea.be/ASB20/axidownloads20s.nsf/LookupFilesForLatestUpdates/3577068C87011051C12570DE00614212/$File/EuroV%20Eng.pdf

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