A4-0162/98

Resolution on the communication to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community strategy to combat acidification (COM(97)0088 - C4-0436/97)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 130r of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the Commission's communication to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community strategy to combat acidification (COM(97)0088 - C4-0436/97),

- having regard to the Council's conclusions concerning the communication (Item 7 on the agenda of the Council's 2062nd meeting, on 16 December 1997),

- having regard to the proposal for a Council Directive relating to a reduction of the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and amending Directive 93/12/EEC (COM(97) 0088 - C4-0283/97),

- having regard to Council Directive 88/609/EEC on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants,

- having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (CES 979/97) on the Commission's communication,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy (A4-0162/98),

A. welcoming the Commission strategy to combat acidification, which was developed in line with the Fifth Environmental Action Programme's long-term objective of not exceeding the critical loads in any region of the EU,

B. noting that the Commission has chosen to set an interim target whereby the area in which the critical loads on ecosystems are exceeded must be reduced by 50% by 2010,

C. noting that in 1990, the reference year, the critical loads for acidification were exceeded over an area corresponding to 24% of the Community's ecosystem area,

D. noting that the Commission has opted to base the strategy on the model for integrated assessment as previously used in the context of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution,

E. noting that the basis used for calculations in accordance with the model has not in all respects been complete or taken account of the latest developments as regards CO2 reduction targets in the Community, so that the results should be viewed as preliminary estimates,

F. noting that the Commission is proposing national emission ceilings as a way of achieving the strategy's interim target,

G. noting that the strategy, in accordance with the mandate given by the Council, focuses specifically on acidification and therefore does not take full account of all the adverse effects that the acidifying emissions may have,

H. noting that, as regards action, the strategy is based on existing legislation and initiatives already adopted, i.e. the reference scenario,

I. whereas the analysis of other possible actions covers only technical actions, thereby underestimating the potential for action and overestimating the costs of further action,

1. Supports the Commission's proposal, which sets targets in relation to critical loads and endorses the strategy's use of an interim target for 2010 but calls on the Commission to develop a new, ambitious objective for 2015, whereby in principle the critical loads must not be reached in any part of the area; considers that details of this new objective should be given when the programme is revised in 2004;

2. Considers that the national emission ceilings method gives Member States the required degree of flexibility to take the measures best suited to achieving the specified interim target;

3. Calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to make greater use of financial instruments, e.g. trading emission rights, to reduce sulphur and nitrogen emissions;

4. Endorses the Commission's choice of the model for integrated assessment, which has been used successfully in the context of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, as the basis for the acidification strategy;

5. Calls on the Commission, however, to update the input data used for the integrated assessment model so as to take full account of national data from the Member States, forthcoming legislation and international agreements such as the Auto-Oil package and the Kyoto Conference, before the planned proposal for a Directive on national emission ceilings is finalized;

6. Considers it important that the EU's acidification strategy should be compatible with the protocol of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) which deals simultaneously with acidification, formation of ozone and eutrophication from a pan-European perspective; the effectiveness of the acidification strategy could be improved substantially if, in addition to the present EU Member States, consideration were extended to the other European countries;

7. Calls on the Commission to support Parliament's position on the Auto-Oil proposal for lower sulphur content levels for motor vehicle fuels from 2005;

8. Maintains that the updating of the input data used for the analysis, referred to in paragraph 5, together with possible additional non-technical structural measures for reducing emissions, could substantially bring down the estimated cost of achieving the strategy's interim target;

9. Stresses that a wide range of benefits will ensue from reduced acidification, such as conservation of biodiversity, slower impoverishment of the soil, improvements in human health, increased life of buildings and construction materials, and preservation of the cultural heritage;

10. Considers that the Commission should take into account other costs and damage that is not measurable in economic terms resulting from acidifying emissions, in particular damage to health, eutrophication, damage caused by ground-level ozone and the corrosion of buildings and materials including priceless cultural monuments;

11. Calls on all Member States and the EU to sign and ratify the 1994 Sulphur Protocol;

12. Considers that the polluter pays principle must be applied in full by all Member States in all branches of industry and, in particular to all modes of transport;

13. Calls on the Commission, on the basis of the calculations of cost-effectiveness, to propose specific measures to reduce emissions of acidifying air pollutants from shipping and to support efforts to reduce emissions in the applicant countries;

14. Calls on the Commission to propose a ceiling on the sulphur content of aviation fuel;

15. Calls on the Commission, with the aim of reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from shipping, to propose and encourage measures such as:

- the introduction of differentiated port and fairway charges favouring vessels which use low-sulphur bunker oil and/or are fitted with catalytic converters;

- the laying down of rules on emissions from shipping linking EU ports;

- voluntary emission-reduction agreements, e.g. for ferries;

- a request for the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the English Channel to be designated sensitive areas for sulphur emissions under the Marpol Convention, with the aim of introducing requirements for lower limit values for sulphur in bunker oil in those waters;

- increasing the use of low-sulphur bunker oil, for example by using financial instruments such as taxes or charges on sulphur emissions, with any revenue thus obtained by Member States being used to finance measures to prevent acidification;

16. Considers that the Commission has not been anywhere near ambitious enough as regards the limit values it has proposed in the context of the revision of Directive 93/12/EEC relating to the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels;

17. Notes that in 1990 large combustion plants accounted for just over 60% of SO2 emissions and just over 20% of NOx emissions in the Community;

18. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to submit as soon as possible the long-awaited revised text of Directive 88/609/EEC on emissions from large combustion plants;

19. Calls on the Commission to put forward a coordinated strategy for reducing the adverse effects of farming on the environment as regards emissions of ammonia, methane and nitrates into the air, soil and water and a strategy for promoting sustainable and organic farming;

20. Considers that the Commission must submit an action plan indicating how the applicant countries are to be involved in the efforts to ensure that the acidification strategy's targets are met; such a plan should include the transfer of know-how, support for environmental monitoring and the financing of investment in measures which reduce emissions of acidifying substances via existing programmes such as Phare and Tacis; calls on the Commission also to include within that action plan measures to stimulate the market economy and the introduction of financial instruments;

21. Calls on the Commission to link CAP subsidies to more stringent measures to combat ammonia emissions from farming;

22. Calls on the Commission to link assistance for the applicant countries to stringent environmental requirements for action to reduce acidifying emissions in those countries;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.