COMMON POSITION (EC) No 3/96 adopted by the Council on 22 December 1995 with a view to adopting Directive 96/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of ..., amending Directive 70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against air pollution from emissions from motor vehicles
Date: 1995-12-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: air quality, approximation of laws, motor vehicle, quality of the environment, tax incentive, technical standard













EUR-Lex - 51996AG0209(03) - EN






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51996AG0209(03)

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 3/96 adopted by the Council on 22 December 1995 with a view to adopting Directive 96/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of ..., amending Directive 70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against air pollution from emissions from motor vehicles  


Official Journal C 037 , 09/02/1996 P. 0023 





COMMON POSITION (EC) No 3/96adopted by the Council on 22 December 1995with a view to adopting  Directive 96/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of . . ., amending Directive  70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken  against air pollution from emissions from motor vehicles(96/C 37/03)THE EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a  thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Acting in accordance with the procedure of Article 189b of the Treaty (3), Whereas measures should be adopted within the framework of the attainment of the objectives of the  internal market; whereas the internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which  the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured; Whereas the first programme of action of the European Community on protection of the environment  (4), approved by the Council on 22 November 1973, called for account to be taken of the latest  scientific advances in combating atmospheric pollution caused by gases emitted from motor vehicles  and for Directives adopted previously to be amended accordingly; whereas the fifth programme of  action, the general approach of which was approved by the Council in its resolution of 1 February  1993 (5), provides for additional efforts to be made to effect a considerable reduction in the  present level of pollutants emitted from motor vehicles; Whereas the objective of reducing the level of pollutant emissions from motor vehicles and the  operation of the internal market for vehicles cannot be sufficiently achieved by individual Member  States; whereas they can, however, be better achieved at Community level by the approximation of  the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by motor  vehicles; Whereas it is recognized that the development of transport in the Community has entailed  significant constraints for the environment and that there is a risk of increased deterioration  thereof; whereas official estimates of the increase in traffic density made hitherto have been  exceeded by the actual trend throughout the Community and whereas for that reason very stringent  emission standards should be laid down for all motor vehicles; Whereas the Commission has adopted a European programme on emissions, fuels and engine technologies  (EPEFE); whereas that programme was established to ensure that proposals for future Directives on  pollutant emissions seek the best solutions for the environment, for the consumer and for the  economy; whereas it deals with the pollution emitted by motor vehicles and the fuels which propel  them; Whereas Directive 70/220/EEC (6), which deals with the measures to be taken against air pollution  by emissions from motor vehicles, is one of the separate Directives under the type-approval  procedure laid down by Directive 70/156/EEC (7); Whereas Directive 70/220/EEC lays down the limit values for carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbon  emissions from the engines of such vehicles; whereas these limit values were first reduced by  Council Directive 74/290/EEC (8) and supplemented, in accordance with Commission Directive  77/102/EEC (9), by limit values for permissible emissions of nitrogen oxides; whereas the limit  values for those three pollutants were successively reduced by Commission Directive 78/665/EEC (10)  and Council Directives 83/351/EEC (11) and 88/76/EEC (12); whereas limit values for particulate  pollutant emissions from diesel engines were introduced by Directive 88/436/EEC (13); whereas more  stringent European standards for emissions of gaseous pollutants from motor vehicles below 1 400  cm³ were introduced by Directive 89/458/EEC (1); whereas those standards have been extended to all  passenger cars independently of their engine capacity on the basis of an improved European test  procedure including an extra-urban driving cycle; whereas requirements relating to the evaporative  emissions and to the durability of emission-reducing vehicle components as well as more stringent  particulate pollutant standards for motor vehicles equipped with diesel engines were introduced by  Directive 91/441/EEC (2); whereas passenger cars designed to carry more than six passengers or  having a maximum mass of more than 2 500 kg, light commercial vehicles and off-road vehicles  covered by Directive 70/220/EEC have, under Directive 93/59/EEC (3), been subject to standards as  stringent as those for passenger cars, taking into account the specific features of such vehicles;  whereas the standards for passenger cars have been rendered more stringent by Directive 94/12/EC,  which also introduced a new method for checking on the conformity of production; whereas it is  necessary to harmonize the standards for light commercial vehicles with those for passenger cars so  as to make them at least as stringent as those for passenger cars; Whereas the work undertaken by the Commission in this field has shown that the best technology  currently available to the Community industry can be further improved in order to allow light  commercial vehicles to comply with considerably reduced emission limits; whereas the same is true  of other new technologies which are emerging; whereas the proposed standards will apply both to the  approval of new vehicle types and to checks on conformity of production, since the amended method  of sampling and statistical evaluation enables the tolerances allowed for the limit values set  under previous stages of value reduction under Directive 70/220/EEC to be removed; Whereas the Commission has examined the feasibility of amalgamating vehicle classes II and III, the  actual conditions under which light commercial vehicles are driven in urban and extra-urban traffic  and the special characteristics of those vehicles; Whereas Member States should be allowed to expedite, by means of tax incentives, the placing on the  market of vehicles which satisfy the requirements adopted at Community level, such incentives  having to comply with the provisions of the Treaty and satisfy certain conditions intended to avoid  distortions of the internal market; whereas this Directive does not affect the Member States' right  to include emissions of pollutants and other substances in the basis on which road traffic taxes on  motor vehicles are calculated; Whereas the prior notification requirement of this Directive stands without prejudice to  notification requirements under other provisions of Community law, notably Article 93 (3) of the  Treaty; Whereas the Council should adopt, by 31 December 1997, the requirements valid for the stage  beginning in the year 2000, on the basis of a proposal which the Commission must submit by 30 June  1996 and which is to be aimed at substantially reducing emissions from light commercial vehicles; Whereas the measures to reduce air pollution emissions from the year 2000 must form part of an  integrated and multidirectional approach embracing all measures for reducing air pollution due to  road traffic; whereas all the parameters set out in Article 4 of Directive 94/12/EC are relevant;  whereas, for the requirements valid as from the year 2000, the aim should be, for light commercial  vehicles, to lay down stipulations of equivalent stringency to those laid down for passenger cars  employing emission reduction technology of a uniform technical level, taking account of the special  characteristics of light commercial vehicles and, for vehicles of category N1, classes II and III,  of the need to take into consideration any appropriate stipulations as to durability; whereas the  Commission must undertake the analysis of environmental, technological and cost-efficiency aspects  and provide, by the end of June 1996, quantified objectives for the adoption of Community measures  applicable from the year 2000, HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Article 1Annex I to Directive 70/220/EEC shall be amended in accordance with  the Annex to this Directive. Article 21. With effect from 1 October 1996, Member States must accept compliance with the  requirements of Directive 70/220/EEC, as amended by this Directive, for the purposes of Articles 4  (1) and 7 (1) of Directive 70/156/EEC. 2. With effect from 1 January 1997, for vehicles of class I and with effect from 1 January 1998 for  vehicles of classes II and III, Member States may no longer grant: - EC type-approval in accordance with Article 4 (1) of Directive 79/156/EEC, or- national  type-approval, unless the provisions of Article 8 (2) of Directive 70/156/EEC are invoked, for a type of vehicle on grounds relating to air pollution by emissions, if it fails to comply with  Directive 70/220/EEC, as amended by this Directive. 3. With effect from 1 October 1997 for vehicles of class I, and with effect from 1 October 1998 for  vehicles of classes II and III, Member States must: - consider certificates of conformity which accompany new vehicles in accordance with the  provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC as no longer valid for the purposes of Article 7 (1) of that  Directive and- refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles which are not  accompanied by a certificate of conformity in accordance with Directive 70/156/EEC, unless the  provisions of Article 8 (2) of Directive 70/156/EEC are invoked, on grounds relating to air pollution by motor emissions, if the requirements of Directive  70/220/EEC, as amended by this Directive, are not fulfilled. For vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio of no more than 30 kW/t and a maximum speed not exceeding  130 km/h, the dates referred to in the first subparagraph shall be replaced by 1 October 1998 and 1  October 1999 respectively. Article 3Member States may make provision for tax incentives only in respect of motor vehicles  which comply with Directive 70/220/EEC, as amended by this Directive. Such incentives must comply  with the provisions of the Treaty and satisfy the following conditions: - they shall be valid for all new vehicles offered for sale on the market of a Member State which  comply in advance with the requirements of Directive 70/220/EEC, as amended by this Directive, - they shall be terminated with effect from the mandatory application of the emission values laid  down in Article 2 (3) for new motor vehicles, - for each type of motor vehicle, they shall be for an amount lower than the additional cost of the  technical devices introduced to ensure compliance with the values set and their installation on the  vehicle. The Commission shall be informed in sufficient time of plans to institute or change the tax  incentives referred to in the first paragraph, so that it can submit its observations. Article 4The Council, acting under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, shall decide by 31  December 1997 on proposals, to be submitted by the Commission by 30 June 1996, for a further stage  in the reduction, by the adoption of Community measures, of air pollution caused by emissions from  motor vehicles covered by this Directive. The measures shall apply from the year 2000. In these proposals, the Commission will follow the approach outlined in Article 4 of Directive  94/12/EC. Article 51. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative  provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 1 October 1996. They shall forthwith  inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall  be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of  making such reference shall be laid down by Member States. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national  law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. Article 6This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication  in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Article 7This Directive is addressed to the Member States. Done at . . . For the European ParliamentThe PresidentFor the CouncilThe President(1) OJ  No C 390, 31. 12. 1994, p. 26. (2) OJ No C 201, 26. 7. 1993, p. 9. (3) Opinion of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal), common  position of the Council of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the  European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal). (4) OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1. (5) OJ No C 138, 17. 5. 1993, p. 1. (6) OJ No L 76, 6. 4. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 94/12/EC (OJ No L 100, 19.  4. 1994, p. 42). (7) OJ No L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC (OJ  No L 266, 8. 11. 1995, p. 1). (8) OJ No L 159, 15. 6. 1974, p. 61. (9) OJ No L 32, 3. 2. 1977, p. 32. (10) OJ No L 223, 14. 8. 1978, p. 48. (11) OJ No L 197, 20. 7. 1983, p. 1. (12) OJ No L 36, 9. 2. 1988, p. 1. (13) OJ No L 214, 6. 8. 1988, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 226, 3. 8. 1989, p. 1. (2) OJ No L 242, 30. 8. 1991, p. 1. (3) OJ No L 186, 28. 7. 1993, p. 21. ANNEX Amendments to the Annexes to Directive 70/220/EEC as amended by Directive  93/59/EEC The table in Section 5.3.1.4 is replaced by the following: >TABLE></(BLK0)NOTES></(BLK0)TBL>(2) Except: - vehicles designed to carry more than six occupants including the driver, - vehicles whose maximum mass exceed 2 500 kg. (3) And those category M vehicles which are specified in footnote (2).  STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS I. INTRODUCTION 1. On 19 December 1994 the  Commission submitted a proposal based on Article 100a of the EC Treaty, amending Directive  70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken  against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles. 2. On 20 September 1995 the European Parliament delivered its opinion in which it proposed 18  amendments to the Commission proposal. Further to that opinion, the Commission submitted an amended  proposal which incorporated four of the Parliament's amendments. 3. The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 27 April 1995. 4. On 22 December 1995 the Council adopted a common position on the Commission proposal in  accordance with Article 189b of the Treaty. II. OBJECTIVE 5. The proposal for a Directive is designed mainly to make the standards on  emissions of pollutants from light commercial vehicles as stringent as those applicable to  passenger cars as defined in Directive 94/12/EC. III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION 6. The Council accepted the Commission proposal, apart from  two points: (a) Regarding the limit values annexed to the proposal for a Directive, the Council opted for more  stringent values for the combined mass of hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, and for the mass of  particulates which applied to- vehicles of classes II and III of category N1, - diesel engines of the direct-injection type intended for such vehicles. (b) Given that the date of implementation of the new measures proposed by the Commission (1 October  1995) has now passed, the Council put back this date to 1 October 1996, with a view to allowing  Member States six months to incorporate the Directive into national law, and deferred the other  dates in Article 2 accordingly. In addition, the Council incorporated into its common position the four amendments proposed by the  Commission following the European Parliament's opinion.