Mr President, Commissioner, motorised two and three-wheel vehicles, that is motorcycles and scooters, are mainly used in two areas. Firstly, to respond to the need for mobility in urban areas and, secondly, for leisure purposes, particularly in sensitive areas of countryside with many attractive bends. In both areas, and I say this as a motorcycle enthusiast, the drivers of these vehicles have a special responsibility, because two-wheel vehicles should not have a greater impact on urban areas or sensitive areas of the countryside than motor cars have. It is therefore both legitimate and essential for us to ensure that motorised two and three-wheel vehicles should have the same level of emissions as motor cars. The European Parliament has set a very successful example through its input into legislation reducing emissions from motor cars, with the introduction of EURO III and IV, and also emissions from both light and heavy commercial vehicles, with a view to improving air quality in Europe's cities and sensitive environmental areas. We cannot therefore make an exception for motorcycles and scooters. Hence this proposal that there should also be a two-stage approach for motorcycles and scooters, with the first reduction stage being introduced in 2003 and a second reduction stage, and this is the important thing, coming into force in 2006. Industry naturally needs time to develop new engines and new exhaust emissions cleaning systems. We must give industry this time, and that is why the second stage in 2006 is important. The Commission's proposal for 2003 is essentially the current state of the art – vehicles complying with these limit values are generally speaking already on our roads. There is already a list of registrations which indicates that over 80 vehicles already comply with the 2003 values. We do not want to tinker about with that – what we want is a second binding stage for 2006, applying the EURO III 2000 motor car levels to motorised two-wheel vehicles. However, we want to see one thing start in 2003 that already applies to cars and to light and heavy commercial vehicles. I have in mind concentration on the sustainability of emissions-related parts. Of course, it does not make much sense if a two-wheel vehicle achieves marvellous emission limit values on the test bench if in practice, after just a few thousand kilometres, these limit values are history. That is why we want to see a start made on sustainability for motorised two-wheel vehicles in 2003 and why we also want to create a situation whereby if there is a serious suspicion that particular models are not complying with emission limit values on a long-term basis, the authorities are empowered to check this using in-service surveys to ensure in-use compliance. I have been told that it is not yet possible to do anything as regards 2006, because we do not yet have a new motorcycle test cycle, and because the test cycle needs to be revised before we can do anything. I do not agree with that. As with heavy commercial vehicles, we have said that it would be good if we had a worldwide cycle, but we want to stick to our objective. That objective is that by 2006 we should achieve a level corresponding to the motor car level for 2000, allowing a little more time for motorcycles, but they must reach that level by then. If there is no other test cycle by then, we will just have to use the same cycle that applies to cars. Mr Goodwill and I have built in a slightly longer lead time for certain smaller manufacturers who would have particular problems in converting their production lines. I think that is appropriate and does not affect the overall result. I believe that that if we accept the proposals of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and enter into the conciliation procedure with the Council, motorcycle riders will in future be able to exercise both their responsibility and their freedom, and that should be our common objective.

Political group: PSE