WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3063/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Emissions of organic compounds
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: chemical pollution, cost-benefit analysis, industrial pollution, motor vehicle pollution, organic chemical, pollution control, pollution control measures, small and medium-sized enterprises

16. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 117/145

As required by the EC Treaty the Commission will ensure that the provisions of this Regulation are properly
transposed into the national law of each Member State. The Commission would also like to draw the Honourable
Member’s attention to the legal basis for the proposal (Article 130 s of the EC Treaty) which enables the Member
States to adopt enhanced protective measures that are more stringent than those provided for in the Directive.

When the proposal for a Directive referred to above was being written the Commission, which was well aware of
the relatively technical nature of its wording, had already taken steps to simplify this in order to make it easier to
read and understand.

(98/C 117/194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3063/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Emissions of organic compounds

The Commission has submitted a proposal for a Council directive on limitation of emissions of volatile organic
compounds  due  to  the  use  of  organic  solvents  in  certain  industrial  activities  (COM(96)  538  final  ›
96/0276 SYN) (1).

At European Union level, measures have already been introduced to reduce emissions of organic compounds
such as the Auto-Oil programme and other legislative measures relating to emissions caused by traffic and the
petrol distribution system. Emissions from stationary sources of solvents therefore need to be reduced, although
specific conditions need to be laid down for the three main sub-sectors of application, given the considerable
number of such sources.

Will  the  Commission  introduce  a  methodology  for  securing  equal  reductions  in  each  sector,  given  the  large
number of industrial sectors and undertakings involved, and set balanced reduction targets for each sector in
terms of cost-effectiveness?

(1)  OJ C 99, 26.3.1997, p. 32.

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(5 November 1997)

When  preparing  its  proposal  for  a  directive  limiting  emissions  of  volatile  organic  compounds  (VOC)  arising
from  the  use  of  organic  solvents  in  certain  industrial  activities,  the  Commission  took  the  greatest  of  care  in
defining the requirements concerning VOC emissions by the various sectors of industry falling within its scope.
Various sector-specific analyses have enabled the potential for reducing VOC emissions to be pinpointed for
each  of  the  sectors  on  the  basis  of  the  best  available  technologies.  The  emission  limits  and  the  solvent-
consumption thresholds on the basis of which a facility is covered by the directive took the greatest account of
these technical/economic factors at their definition stage.

The Commission has, in particular, taken steps to ensure that there is a certain consistency among the various
sectors in terms of the average cost per tonne of VOC and of the marginal costs.

Conversely  the  Commission  has  not  gone  ahead  with  developing  a  uniform  methodology  for  each  sector
concerned  in  cost/benefit  terms.  An  exercise  of  this  type  would,  indeed,  have  been  extremely  complex  to
conclude successfully, bearing in mind the large number and diversity of the branches of industry and companies
involved.  In  addition,  imposing  a  standards  set  of  reduction  charges  throughout  industry  would  potentially
penalise small and medium-sized businesses.