COMMISSION OPINION of 16 February 1976 addressed to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on a draft law to protect the environment against nuisance by noise (76/252/EEC)

In accordance with Article 1 of the Council Decision of 21 March 1962 instituting a procedure for prior examination and consultation in respect of certain laws, regulations and administrative provisions concerning transport proposed in Member States (1), as amended by the Council Decision of 22 November 1973 (2), the Netherlands Government sent the text of a draft law to protect the environment against nuisance by noise to the Commission under cover of a letter of 27 October 1975 from the Office of its Permanent Representative to the European Communities.

The letter from the Office of the Netherlands Permanent Representative reached the Commission on 30 October 1975 extended in accordance with Article 1 of the said Council Decision, was also sent to the other Member States.

On the Commission's initiative an information meeting with representatives of the Netherlands Government was held in Brussels on 17 December 1975. In accordance with Article 2 (4) of the Council Decision, and with the agreement of the Netherlands Government, the period of two months within which the Commission has to address its opinion on the recommendation was extended until 30 January 1976.

The Commission did not consider it necessary to consult the other Member States under Article 2 (3) of the Council Decision.

Pursuant to Article 2 (1) of the said Decision the Commission hereby delivers the following opinion: 1. The Commission notes that the measures envisaged by the Netherlands Government are designed to empower the Minister for Public Health and Environmental Protection to enact noise abatement regulations applying, inter alia, to transport (except for air transport) and to vehicles.

The provisions concerning transport in the draft Law can be summarized as follows: (a) It is designed to empower the Minister for Public Health and Environmental Protection to make noise abatement regulations applying, inter alia, to transport (other than by air) and to vehicles. The checks and controls envisaged apply to manufacture, sale and use. They enable noise standards to be established and noise-prevention device characteristics and insulation material properties to be designated. The regulations may provide for charging, licensing and zoning;

(b) The principle that "the polluter pays" is the basis for the recovery of costs. Those responsible for the principle sources of noise (including vehicles) must pay the cost of administration, grants-in-aid to industry to meet additional expenditure arising from the Bill, preventive measures in noise zones, and research on and development of quieter products;

(c) These overall costs are estimated by the Netherlands Ministry at Fl 200 million annually (at 1975 prices) for the next 10 years;

(d) Charges will be related to the duration and character of noise produced under normal operating conditions ; licensing may form part of the procedure. The revenue from charges will be used in the relevant area or sector, e.g. revenue levied on vehicles will go into a Vehicle Noise Fund.

Expenditure incurred in complying with the noise standard for new products will be borne by the manufacturers.

Further charges may be levied, e.g. on vehicles complying with the EEC noise standards but not with the stricter Netherlands standards. Revenue would be used for research on and development of quieter products and such charges would thus be an incentive for producing the latter;

(e) Areas adjacent to noise sources such as existing and projected industrial estates, roads and railways will be defined as noise zones in such a way that the noise outside the zone does not exceed 50 dB(A) in daytime.

(1) OJ No 23, 3.4.1962, p. 720/62. (2) OJ No L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 48. 2. The Commission considers that the proposals in the draft law for noise abatement in transport are compatible with the common transport policy and future developments thereof.

The Commission notes in particular that the principle of levying noise pollution charges as envisaged in the draft Law may be considered similar to the identification of and (where applicable) the charging for the cost of noise caused by transport, which is one element of social or external costs in the system of charging for the use of transport infrastructure, as proposed by the Commission in 1971 (1).

However, the Commission considers that a procedure should be introduced to reconcile the separate charges for noise envisaged by the Netherlands with the allembracing system at Community level, possibly on the lines of a suggestion already made by the Netherlands representatives during discussion of the draft Directive on the adjustment of national taxation systems for commercial vehicles (2), which is the first step towards general infrastructure charging.

The Commission is very interested in anything affecting transport done under the draft Law and wishes to be kept informed of the progress of implementation and the results.

3. The Commission has noted the declaration of the Netherlands Government, according to which the proposed system would not adversely affect trade between the Member States.

In this connection it wishes to emphasize that this objective can only be attained to the extent that the proposed system in general and the conditions of taxation in particular will be compatible with the provisions of the EEC Treaty and of the Community Directives on noise emissions. Such compatibility would fail to be observed in those cases in particular where products consistent with Community rules in force would be subjected to stricter national rules (compare e.g. Article 2 of Council Directive 70/157/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound level and the exhaust system of motor vehicles) or to other national provisions liable to restrict trade in such products.

The Commission looks forward to being informed by the Netherlands Government of any developments with regard to the draft Law or to any legislative, regulatory and administrative measures which it envisages adopting for the implementation of the above proposals.

4. In conclusion, and subject to the considerations stated in paragraph 3 above, the Commission raises no objections to the provisions envisaged by the Netherlands Government.

5. The Commission will inform the other Member States of this opinion.

Done at Brussels, 16 February 1976.

For the Commission

Carlo SCARASCIA MUGNOZZA

Vice-President

(1) OJ No C 62, 22.6.1971, p. 15. (2) OJ No C 95, 21.9.1968, p. 44.