WRITTEN QUESTION E-0104/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Modification of lorry engines

The Community authorities have, with the series of engines that perform increasingly well on the scale known as Euro 0, 1, 2 and 3, and which is soon to be Euro 4, devoted great attention to framing rules which ensure that lorry engines are less and less polluting. Along with the laboratory tests, are there any field studies which provide assurances as to the lower levels of pollution emitted by these new-generation engines? Is there any risk of these engines being modified by lorry drivers in order to improve their performance to the detriment of the environment?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

With the use of electronic engine controls there are possibilities to manipulate how an engine performs on the road, usually to the benefit of fuel consumption but at the expense of higher pollutant emissions, notably emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX). The manipulations allow an engine to fulfill all emission standards under test conditions but then behave differently on the road.

In 2000, the Commission became aware that some heavy-duty engines with a Euro III type-approval were being manipulated even though Parliament and Council Directive 1999/96/EC(1) (amending Council Directive 88/77/EEC(2)) contains requirements to protect against the use of what are known as defeat devices. Therefore, steps were taken to introduce Commission Directive 2001/27/EC(3) to strengthen the requirements against the use of defeat devices. These new requirements require manufacturers to disclose, at the time of type-approval to the type-approval authority and technical services, all their electronic strategies and justify why certain manipulations may be used (for valid reasons such as engine protection and cold starting) but within closely defined operating conditions (altitude, ambient temperature, oil temperature). The commercial confidentiality of such information has to be respected by the type-approval authority and technical services.

The Commission is working through the United Nations forum in Geneva (UN-ECE) to develop a Global Technical Regulation detailing measures to protect against the use of defeat devices on new heavy-duty vehicles.

The Commission is preparing proposals to supplement the Euro IV emission standards with new technical tests (as required in Directive 1999/96/EC) and Community research projects are studying the differences between actual in-use emissions and the type-approval limits. As part of the supplement to the Euro IV emission standards, a test for in-use conformity of a heavy-duty vehicle emission control system is being

assessed and it is most likely that a procedure will be developed allowing authorities to fit a heavy-duty vehicle with a data recording device to measure emissions while a vehicle is actually used on the road. When used in combination with the type-approval test, this additional on-road test will provide a strong control of emissions under all possible operating conditions.

However, heavy-duty vehicle operators and drivers may still tamper with their engine or emission control systems to improve performance and can easily purchase, through magazines or on the internet, performance chips or download new engine calibrations offering better fuel consumption or power. A forthcoming amendment to Directive 88/77/EEC will offer improvements against tampering, especially with engine management systems.

Finally, heavy-duty commercial vehicles and buses are covered by annual roadworthiness testing and random roadside inspections (Council Directive 96/96/EC(4) and Parliament and Council Directive 2000/30/EC(5)). Both Directives require progressively higher roadworthiness exhaust emission standards for vehicles approved to higher type-approval standards. Indeed, both Directives are currently undergoing technical adaptation in order to incorporate tighter roadworthiness standards specifically for Euro IV diesel vehicles.

(1) Directive 1999/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending Council Directive 88/77/EEC OJ L 44, 16.2.2000.

(2) Council Directive 88/77/EEC of 3 December 1987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles OJ gL 36, 9.2.1988.

(3) Commission Directive 2001/27/EC of 10 April 2001 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 88/77/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression-ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive-ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles OJ L 107, 18.4.2001.

(4) Council Directive 96/96/EC of 20 December 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers OJ L 46, 17.2.1997.

(5) Directive 2000/30/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 June 2000 on the technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community OJ L 203, 10.8.2000.