WRITTEN QUESTION E-2626/99

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(12 January 2000)

Subject: New ATAC programme and increased pollution in Rome

Recently the Rome municipal authority and the municipal public transport company (ATAC) have made several adjustments to the transport programme in the 2nd and 4th municipal districts. The new programme has been strongly opposed by users of the public transport system, as it means that several bus routes will be changed; this will lead to a re-routing of traffic onto roads which are unsuitable for such purposes and hence to an upsurge in air and noise pollution levels. Furthermore, the new ATAC programme makes it far more complicated to use public transport and forces passengers to take two or three different buses where previously they would have had to take just one. Journey times have thus been considerably lengthened.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. Does it not believe that the above measures are in breach of Directive 96/61/EC(1) on integrated pollution prevention and control and of Directive 70/220/EEC(2) and subsequent amendments on air pollution by gases from engines of motor vehicles?

2. Does the increase in pollution which has been registered in several areas not run counter to Directive 82/884/EEC on the limit value for lead in the air?

3. Does the increase in noise pollution not run counter to Directive 70/157/EEC?

4. Would it not consider it advisable to call on the Rome municipal authority to pursue with greater diligence a policy encouraging people to use public transport?

5. What is it's general view on the matter?

(1) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26.

(2) OJ L 76, 6.4.1970, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(24 February 2000)

Council Directive 96/62/EC of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality assessment and management(1) requires standards to be set for a number of pollutants and requires Member States to assess air quality, publicise the results and prepare and implement improvement plans for the worst areas. Such plans may include measures to control motor vehicle traffic that contributes to the breaches of the relevant limit values. The Directive also includes the general aim of maintaining ambient air quality where it is good and improving it in other cases. Council Directive 96/61/CE of 24 September 1996, on the other hand, relates to integrated prevention and control of emissions from fixed installations rather than traffic.

The first of the daughter directives Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air(2) was finally adopted by the Council in April 1999 setting limit values for sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter (PM10) and lead which are to be met in 2005 or 2010. Further daughter directives, setting limit values for carbon monoxide and benzene and long-term objectives and target values for ozone in ambient air have also been proposed by the Commission. Most of these pollutants are found at their highest concentrations in urban areas and have road transport as a major source. Whilst in many cases further reductions in emissions from transport may be required in order to meet the air quality standards, it does not follow that one specific action resulting in an increase in local emissions necessarily conflicts with the air quality directives.

European legislation on vehicles and fuels has substantially reduced emissions from road transport notwithstanding the continued growth in overall traffic. It is calculated, for example, that with the adoption of the recent Auto-Oil Directives 98/69/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC(3) and Directive 98/70/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC(4) polluting emissions from road transport (but not carbon dioxide) will broadly fall by 70-80 % between 1995 and 2010. Breaches of the air quality standards should be much reduced but it is expected that there will nonetheless be problems of compliance in some European cities and at traffic hot spots. Better management of the traffic system and promotion of cleaner fuels and technologies and more sustainable transport modes should in principle form part of the solution. The banning of leaded petrols in Europe from January 2000 will also contribute significantly to an improvement in urban air quality and the increased protection of population groups at high exposure risk, in particular children of up to 6 years of age. However, the lack of preparedness in several Member States, including Italy, means that the leaded fuels will not be fully banned until 2002 and that the health benefits of the measure will be delayed. This delay is intended to give those Member States more time in which to inform customers of the availability of lead replacement additives and reassure them that older cars need not be scrapped.

With respect to the question about noise, reference is made to the motor vehicle exhaust systems Directive, 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(5) that

concerns vehicle type approval giving access to the single market. It does not, however, apply to environmental noise arising from traffic operations. The Commission's work programme for the year 2000 foresees the development of a proposal for a framework directive on noise.

(1) OJ L 296, 21.11.1996.

(2) OJ L 163, 29.6.1999.

(3) OJ L 350, 28.12.1998.

(4) OJ L 350, 28.12.1998.

(5) OJ L 42, 23.2.1970.