Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on action to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants by engines intended to power agricultural or forestry tractors and amending Council Directive 74/150/EEC
Date: 1999-08-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community certification, atmospheric pollutant, motor vehicle pollution, technical regulations, tractor

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 13.08.1999
COM(1999) 386 final

98/0247 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on action to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants
by engines intended to power agricultural or forestry tractors and amending
Council Directive 74/150/EEC

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC-Treaty)

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Following the opinion1 of the European Parliament adopted on 5 May 1999 on the
proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on action to be
taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants by engines intended
to power agricultural or forestry tractors and amending Council Directive 74/150/EEC
(COM(98)0472 - C4-0512/98 - 98/0247(COD)) and in accordance with Article 250 of
the EC Treaty, the Commission has decided to amend its proposal.

Of the four amendments proposed by Parliament, the Commission accepts two –
amendments 1 and 3.

Amendment 1 consists in inserting a new recital referring explicitly to the «modus
vivendi» between Parliament and the Commission in the comitology procedure.

Amendment 3 consists in replacing «sufficiently early» by «as soon as possible» in
Article 7(3) relating to tax incentives.

Amendment 2, which called for a proposal by the end of 2002 for a third stage in the
reduction of emission limit values, is not acceptable, since the Directive will not be
incorporated into national law until 2001 and the second stage will be implemented
until 2003, with the result that there will not be a sufficient basis for assessing the
economic and industrial consequences.

Amendment 4, dealing with the procedure for adaptation to technical progress, is out
of place in this separate directive. Its subject is covered by the framework directive
74/150/EEC which is due to be recast in the near future.

1

PE 279.324, p. 60.

2

Amended proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on action to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants
by engines intended to power agricultural or forestry tractors and amending
Council Directive 74/150/EEC

(Text with EEA relevance)

Recital 8a (new)

Amended text (new)

(8a) Whereas an agreement on a modus vivendi between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission concerning the implementing measures for acts adopted
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the EC Treaty was
reached on 20 December 1994(1);

(1) OJ C 102, 4.4.1996, p. 1.

Article 7(3)

Initial text

3. The Commission shall be informed of any plans to introduce or change any of the
tax incentives referred to in the first paragraph sufficiently early for it to comment
thereon.

Amended text

3. The Commission shall be informed of any plans to introduce or change any of the
tax incentives referred to in the first paragraph as soon as possible for it to comment
thereon.

3