Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2002-08-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, atmospheric pollutant, combustion gases, engine, reduction of gas emissions, technical regulations

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 8.8.2002
COM(2002) 458 final

2000/0336 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from
internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

2000/0336 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal
combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery

Article 251, paragraph 2, third subparagraph, letter c) of the Treaty establishing the European
Community  establishes  that  the  Commission  gives  an opinion on the amendments  proposed
by the European Parliament in the second reading.

The Commission hereafter gives its opinion on the four amendments adopted by the European
Parliament.

1.

BACKGROUND

Transmission of the proposal to the Council and the 
European Parliament (COM (2000) 840 final
- 2000/0336(COD)) in accordance with article 251
of the Treaty

18 December 2000

Commission original proposal published:

26 June 2001

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

11 July 2001

Opinion of the European Parliament - first reading

 2 October 2001

Adoption of a political agreement

29 October 2001

Adoption of a common position

25 March 2002

Opinion of the European Parliament – second reading

 2 July 2002

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2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The  objective  of  the  proposal  is  to  extend  the  scope  of  current  Directive  97/68/EC  on
emissions  from  compression  ignition  engines  to  be  used  in  non-road  mobile  machinery  to
cover also small spark ignition (petrol) engines (lawn mowers, chain saws, trimmers, cutters,
pumps,  generating  sets  etc).  These  engines  are  produced  world-wide  to  a  number  of  about
25 million  yearly  and  their  contribution  to  the  overall  emissions  of  the  VOC  in  the
Community  is  10-15%.  This  amendment  will  contribute  to  achieving  ambient  air  quality
targets especially concerning ground level ozone.

The main elements of the proposal are:

(cid:1)  Two  stages  of  limit  values  to  apply  from  18  months  after  the  entry  into  force  of  the

Directive (stage I) and 2004-2010 depending on engine class (stage II)

(cid:1)  A  system  of  averaging  and  banking  and  some  special  arrangements  for  small  volume

manufacturers and small engine types in order to obtain a world wide alignment

3.

COMMISSION OPINION ON THE AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY THE PARLIAMENT

Amendments accepted by the Commission

The Parliament adopted four of the five amendments tabled (1, 3, 4 and 5), all of which can
be accepted by the Commission.

Amendment  1  addresses  the  possibility  for  Member  State  to  label  engines  to  inform
consumers  that  engines  meet  the  stage  II  limit  values  already  before  they  enter  into  force.
Amendment  3  clarifies  the  text  concerning  the  implementation  of  limit  values  for  constant
speed engines. Amendments 4 and 5 give time-limited exemptions for some types of engines
and at the same time allow the Commission to extend this time limit if necessary for technical
reasons.

4.

CONCLUSION

Having  regard  to  Article  250,  paragraph  2,  of  the  EC  treaty,  the  Commission  modifies  its
proposal as indicated above.

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