Common Position (EC) No 47/2000 of 10 October 2000 adopted by the Council acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC concerning measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles
Date: 2000-10-10
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: air quality, approximation of laws, motor vehicle, motor vehicle pollution, pollution control measures, technological change

20.11.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 329/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 47/2000

adopted by the Council on 10 October 2000

with a view to adopting Directive 2000/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ...
amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC concerning measures to be taken against air pollution
by emissions from motor vehicles

(2000/C 329/01)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity and in particular Article 95 thereof,

under the type-approval procedure laid down by Council
Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their
trailers (5).

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

(2)

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Directive 70/220/EEC lays down the specifications for
the testing of emissions of the motor vehicles falling
within its scope. In view of the recent experience gained
and the rapidly developing state of the art of on-board
diagnostic systems,
it is appropriate to adapt those
specifications accordingly.

Whereas:

(1)

Council Directive 70/220/EEC of 20 March 1970 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States on
measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions
from motor vehicles (4), is one of the separate directives

(1) OJ C ... .
(2) OJ C ... .
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 17 May 2000 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of
10 October 2000 and Decision of the European Parliament of ...
(not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 76, 6.4.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission

Directive 1999/102/EC (OJ L 334, 28.12.1999, p. 43).

(3) On-board diagnostics (OBD) is at a less developed stage
for vehicles equipped with positive-ignition engines
which run permanently or part-time on liquefied pet-
roleum gas (LPG) or natural gas (NG) and cannot be
required on such new types of vehicles before 2003.

(5) OJ L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive
98/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ
L 11, 16.1.1999, p. 25).

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(4)

Directive 70/220/EEC should be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

With effect from 1 January 2006 for new types and from
1 January 2007 for all types, vehicles of category N1
the
classes II and III and vehicles of category M1,
maximum mass of which exceeds 2 500 kg, running
permanently or part-time on either LPG or natural gas
fuel, must be fitted with an OBD system for emission
control in accordance with Annex XI.’

In Annex I to Directive 70/220/EEC, Section 8.1 shall be
replaced by the following:

Article 2

‘8.1. Vehicles with positive-ignition engines

8.1.1. Petrol-fuelled engines

With effect from 1 January 2000 for new types and from
1 January 2001 for all types, vehicles of category M1 —
except vehicles the maximum mass of which exceeds
2 500 kg — and vehicles of category N1 class I, must be
fitted with an OBD system for emission control
in
accordance with Annex XI.

With effect from 1 January 2001 for new types and from
1 January 2002 for all types, vehicles of category N1
classes II and III and vehicles of category M1,
the
maximum mass of which exceeds 2 500 kg, must be
fitted with an OBD system for emission control
in
accordance with Annex XI.

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by ...(*). They shall forthwith inform the Commission
thereof.

those provisions,

When Member States adopt
they shall
contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by
such a reference on the occasion of their official publication.
Member States shall determine how such reference is to be
made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission
the text of the main provisions of domestic law which they
adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication
in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 4

8.1.2. LPG and natural gas-fuelled vehicles

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

With effect from 1 January 2003 for new types and from
1 January 2004 for all types, vehicles of category M1 —
except vehicles the maximum mass of which exceeds
2 500 kg — and vehicles of category N1 class I, running
permanently or part-time on either LPG or natural gas
fuel, must be fitted with an OBD system for emission
control in accordance with Annex XI.

Done at ...

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

(*) Twelve months after the date of entry into force of this Directive.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 329/3

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On 14 February 2000, the Commission presented a proposal based on Article 95 of the Treaty
concerning measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles (1).

2.

The European Parliament approved the Commission proposal in its first reading opinion on
17 May 2000 (2).

3.

The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 24 May 2000 (3).

4. On 10 October 2000, the Council adopted its Common Position in accordance with Article 251

of the Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

5.

The objective of the proposal is to amend Directive 70/220/EEC (4) to provide for dates from
which on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems are mandatory on passenger cars and light
commercial vehicles that have positive-ignition engines and which use alternative fuels such as
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or natural gas (NG).

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

6.

The Council examined the Commission proposal which it amended slightly to stipulate that
existing models in category M1 ˜ 2 500 kg and vehicles in category NI class I must be fitted
with an OBD system as from 1 January 2004.

The Council considers that installing an OBD system to monitor permanently the compliance
of emissions from a vehicle in road use with the standards laid down at the time of its
manufacture will allow early detection of any malfunction in vehicles’ anti-pollution equipment.
The earlier introduction of the OBD system (1 January 2004 instead of 1 January 2006) will
therefore help reduce pollutant emissions.

The Common Position is also aligned on the date from which existing models in category M1 ˜
2 500 kg with a compression-ignition engine must also be fitted with an OBD system
(1 January 2004) (5).

(1) OJ C ... .
(2) OJ C ... .
(3) OJ C ... .
(4) OJ 76, 6.4.1970, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 334, 28.12.1999, p. 43.