Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery' ()

(96/C 153/02)

On 7 November 1995, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 7 February 1996. The Rapporteur was Mr Paulo Barros Vale.

At its 333rd Plenary Session (meeting of 28 February 1996), the Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion.

1. Introduction

1.1. If it is to continue placing its faith in economic and social development, the European Union must do so without jeopardizing the environment and natural resources; these determine the quality of human activity and the sustainability of development itself.

1.2. Likewise, for technological development to be adequately regulated, it is clearly necessary to align all Member States' legislation on this subject.

1.3. The move to encourage a reduction in polluting emissions entails particular benefits for human health and will be beneficial to the environment generally.

1.4. The European Union has already regulated the operation of engines in road vehicles; however until now there has been no legislation on non-road machinery. The present proposal aims to plug this gap.

1.5. This legislation (like the legislation being drawn up in the United States) is based on ISO (International Standards Organization) Standard 8178 which has been adopted by the US EPA, California Air Resources Board and the UN ECE and has been incorporated into Japanese legislation.

1.6. The Commission estimates that annual costs of all the technical improvements will be of the order of ECU 31 million for the first stage and ECU 125 million for the second; these costs passed on to consumers will represent increases in the cost of the engines of around 1 %-3 % in stage I and 3 %-8 % in stage II, which will have repercussions on the market value of the engines.

1.7. Costs for each tonne of pollutant less have been estimated at around ECU 1 400 for stage I and ECU 2 600 for stage II.

2. Summary of the Commission proposal

2.1. The aim of the Commission proposal is to bring about a significant reduction in air pollution by pollutants from new internal combustion engines installed in non-road mobile machinery; the proposal does not cover farm or forestry tractors, since this machinery also travels on roads and is therefore subject to a different approval procedure.

2.2. Emissions from non-road vehicles had not hitherto been covered by European Union regulations, unlike emissions from road vehicles which have gradually been cut back by means of rules and regulations built up over the years.

2.2.1. Thus, when the amount of air pollution produced by emissions from the two different types of machinery (road and non-road) is compared, emissions from non-road vehicles are now in relative terms much higher and therefore have a greater environmental impact, particularly emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO5/8) and particles (PT).

2.3. The engines covered by this legislation are used in industrial and farming machinery and in machinery used for specific transport purposes. Thus, the type of machinery covered by this Directive would, for example, be: compressors, bulldozers, fork-lift trucks, mobile cranes, material handling equipment, etc.; it does not cover engines with a power capacity of less than 18 Kw.

2.4. The Commission proposal requires Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that the engines covered by the Directive satisfy the requirements for pollutant emissions.

2.5. It is proposed that there be two stages for introducing the new emissions standards, in respect of engine production (Engine Built Date), the first running from June 1997 to December 1998 and the second from January 2001 to December 2003.

3. General comments

3.1. The Commission proposal is in keeping with the environmental requirements set out in the bulk of the regulations currently in force, given that air quality in Europe continues to give rise to great concern. In view of this situation, any measure designed to cut back air pollution, and especially to reduce emissions, needs to be implemented urgently.

3.1.1. The Commission estimates that in the sectors concerned, the proposed measures would reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by 23 %, of hydrocarbons by 11 % and of particles by 27 % in stage I; in stage II the corresponding reductions would be 42 %, 29 % and 67 %, respectively.

3.2. The Committee welcomes the Commission proposal, particularly since it is in keeping with regulations which the United States is currently developing in the same area.

3.2.1. If US and EU standards are harmonized, this will be an extremely important factor in expanding and developing the world market in this kind of engine; it will facilitate the industrial production in this sector and provide an incentive for competition.

3.2.2. Since the rules for stage II have not yet been laid down in the United States or in the European Union, and since it is anticipated that there will be some changes in ideas about what rules are to apply, it would be in the interest of both the US and the European Union in the course of the legislative process to align arrangements for the implementation of stage II in both the US and the European Union; these arrangements would then be recognised by both parties on a reciprocal basis.

3.3. The Committee welcomes the fact that the competent authorities for granting approval certificates, to whom producers have to submit their applications for approval, will come under the responsibility of each Member State.

3.4. Given the health risks engendered by emissions from this kind of engine, the limit values proposed in the Draft Directive are acceptable; these limit values are based on the need to render environmental protection requirements compatible with the industry's current technical, financial and implementing possibilities. Industry should use the lead time before the Directive enters into force to solve the problems involved in meeting the limit-values stipulated for Stage II, especially for small engines (18 to 37 Kw).

4. Specific comments

4.1. Annex I to the proposed Directive sets out the machinery and equipment, the engines of which are covered by these regulations. Although the list is not exhaustive, the Committee feels that the Directive should cover generators in the same way as it does compressors.

4.2. The authorities in the Member States who grant approval for engines should monitor these new engines' compliance with the requirements.

4.2.1. Producers themselves should issue periodical reports so that compliance can be monitored and they should keep files containing the necessary information. The Committee does however think it unnecessary to keep this information for as long as 30 years, as happens in some cases; this seems to be too long and would create difficulties for the industry.

4.3. The Committee understands and agrees that any engines for road use, which have been subject to an approval procedure and which are used in non-road equipment, should not need to undergo a new approval procedure.

4.4. Once all the parameters are defined and an engine or family of engines is approved accordingly, the Committee stresses the importance of monitoring these engines during their operational life so as to gauge to what extent the level of pollutant emission is maintained.

4.4.1. Although it deems a monitoring system to be indispensable, the Committee would draw attention to the fact that, since such vehicles and equipment do not carry number plates, it could be difficult to check up on them periodically during their operational life, since it is impossible to pinpoint their location or even their owner, particularly if this system should ever be extended to cover petrol engines. It is acknowledged that it is nowadays impossible to monitor emissions from engines while they are in use. The International Standards Organization is developing a loaded smoke test in order to address this problem. However, this will impose design constraints on new engines to produce low smoke and will also enable measurements to be made while the engines are in use. This test may be available when the limit values established for stage II are being introduced.

4.5. It would be useful to have a mathematical correction procedure for particle emissions so that, in respect of variations in sulphur content, different fuel specifications are used by the USA (including California) and by the EU.

4.6. The Commission proposal for affixing identification plates creates a problem. Requirements for marking engines as set out in Annex I (3.3) indicate use of supplementary marking which will create problems in terms of the visibility of the markings in a cluttered environment. Nevertheless, the proposed directive requires the main and supplementary identification plates to be clearly visible; this negates any benefit in using a second identification plate. This part of the proposed directive must be brought more closely into line with actual needs.

4.7. The Committee welcomes the idea of Member States granting fiscal incentives in order to encourage early introduction of engines complying with the limit values now established for stage II.

5. Conclusions

5.1. The Committee welcomes the Commission proposal which aims at reducing the pollution caused by non-road machinery and underlines the fact that this is the first Directive proposed by the European Union to tackle this problem. The Committee however hopes that it will receive proposals for machinery which is not covered by this directive.

5.2. Since the market for this kind of engine is immense and involves numerous applications, the Committee recognises that it is in the industry's interest for the sector to be regulated and harmonized with legislation in force in the USA as soon as possible, so that certificates are recognized in both areas. The Committee believes that the Commission should make moves to secure mutual recognition of the certificates issued by the USA's and EU's respective authorities.

5.3. Moreover, the Committee proposes that ideas be encouraged for converting such equipment and machinery to run on natural gas or rape-seed oil.

5.4. The Committee would encourage the use of alternative, environmentally friendly and biodegradable fuels, given that tests have shown that for every litre of eco-diesel consumed, 2,3 kg less of CO2 are discharged into the environment.

5.5. The Committee deems as important the sanctions against those manufacturers who, having obtained type approval for one kind of engine, continue to produce engines of this family which do not correspond to the features registered and approved in the approval procedure.

5.6. Monitoring should be the responsibility of the authorities in the Member States who grant the approval concerned; they should also take measures to ensure that they are kept informed of any changes to the contents of an 'approval' file; in addition, they should ensure that production conformity is actually checked.

Done at Brussels, 28 February 1996.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ No C 328, 7. 12. 1995, p. 1.