WRITTEN QUESTION E-0104/03 by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission. Modification of lorry engines.
Date: 2003-01-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European standard, air quality, combustion gases, commercial vehicle, diesel engine, pollution control measures, technical regulations

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/95

As the Commission is not aware of the specific situation described by the Honourable Member, it will take
the appropriate steps in order to gather detailed information and to ensure, within the limits conferred on
it by the EC Treaty, the compliance with Community law.

it will not hesitate, as the guardian of

Should the Commission come to the conclusion that Community law is being breached in the specific
case,
including
infringement procedures under Article 226 of the EC Treaty,
in order to ensure the compliance with
relevant Community law.

to take all necessary measures,

the Treaty,

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(3) Any change or extension of projects listed in Annex I or Annex II, already authorized, executed or in the process of

being executed, which may have significant adverse effects on the environment.

(4) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.
(5) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.

(2003/C 242 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0104/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Modification of lorry engines

The Community authorities have, with the series of engines that perform increasingly well on the scale
known as Euro 0, 1, 2 and 3, and which is soon to be Euro 4, devoted great attention to framing rules
which ensure that lorry engines are less and less polluting. Along with the laboratory tests, are there any
field studies which provide assurances as to the lower levels of pollution emitted by these new-generation
engines? Is there any risk of these engines being modified by lorry drivers in order to improve their
performance to the detriment of the environment?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

With the use of electronic engine controls there are possibilities to manipulate how an engine performs on
the road, usually to the benefit of fuel consumption but at the expense of higher pollutant emissions,
notably emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX). The manipulations allow an engine to fulfill all emission
standards under test conditions but then behave differently on the road.

In 2000, the Commission became aware that some heavy-duty engines with a Euro III type-approval were
being manipulated even though Parliament and Council Directive 1999/96/EC (1)
(amending Council
Directive 88/77/EEC (2)) contains requirements to protect against the use of what are known as ‘defeat
devices’. Therefore, steps were taken to introduce Commission Directive 2001/27/EC (3) to strengthen the
requirements against the use of defeat devices. These new requirements require manufacturers to disclose,
at the time of type-approval to the type-approval authority and technical services, all their electronic
strategies and justify why certain manipulations may be used (for valid reasons such as engine protection
and cold starting) but within closely defined operating conditions (altitude, ambient temperature, oil
temperature). The commercial confidentiality of such information has to be respected by the type-approval
authority and technical services.

The Commission is working through the United Nations forum in Geneva (UN-ECE) to develop a Global
Technical Regulation detailing measures to protect against the use of defeat devices on new heavy-duty
vehicles.

The Commission is preparing proposals to supplement the Euro IV emission standards with new technical
tests (as required in Directive 1999/96/EC) and Community research projects are studying the differences
between actual in-use emissions and the type-approval limits. As part of the supplement to the Euro IV
emission standards, a test for in-use conformity of a heavy-duty vehicle emission control system is being

C 242 E/96

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

assessed and it is most likely that a procedure will be developed allowing authorities to fit a heavy-duty
vehicle with a data recording device to measure emissions while a vehicle is actually used on the road.
When used in combination with the type-approval test, this additional on-road test will provide a strong
control of emissions under all possible operating conditions.

However, heavy-duty vehicle operators and drivers may still tamper with their engine or emission control
systems to improve performance and can easily purchase,
through magazines or on the internet,
‘performance chips’ or download new engine calibrations offering better fuel consumption or power. A
forthcoming amendment to Directive 88/77/EEC will offer improvements against tampering, especially
with engine management systems.

Finally, heavy-duty commercial vehicles and buses are covered by annual roadworthiness testing and
random roadside inspections (Council Directive 96/96/EC (4) and Parliament and Council Directive 2000/
30/EC (5)). Both Directives require progressively higher roadworthiness exhaust emission standards for
vehicles approved to higher type-approval standards. Indeed, both Directives are currently undergoing
technical adaptation in order to incorporate tighter roadworthiness standards specifically for Euro IV diesel
vehicles.

(1) Directive 1999/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of the
laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate
pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from
positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending
Council Directive 88/77/EEC (cid:1) OJ L 44, 16.2.2000.

(2) Council Directive 88/77/EEC of 3 December 1987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles (cid:1)
OJ gL 36, 9.2.1988.

(3) Commission Directive 2001/27/EC of 10 April 2001 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 88/77/EEC
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of
gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression-ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of
gaseous pollutants from positive-ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in
vehicles (cid:1) OJ L 107, 18.4.2001.

(4) Council Directive 96/96/EC of 20 December 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating

to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (cid:1) OJ L 46, 17.2.1997.

(5) Directive 2000/30/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 June 2000 on the technical roadside inspection of

the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community (cid:1) OJ L 203, 10.8.2000.

(2003/C 242 E/096)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0105/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Expansion of the Mont Blanc and Fréjus road tunnels

link unfortunately seems to have hit the doldrums yet again, the Italian
While the Turin-Lyons rail
government has embarked on the immediate expansion,
in the shape of new shafts, of the current
Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels, which are part of the Trans-European Transport Network. However, it has
not taken into consideration the Transport White Paper or the Alpine Convention and its transport
protocol, which state that priority should be given to rail
in the Alpine Arc rather than to further
development of the road system. At the same time, the local populations on both sides of the tunnels are
completely opposed to this idea and the French Government is half-hearted about it. Does the Commission
have any information on this matter and what is its assessment of it?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(7 March 2003)

The Commission has no information about any programme for the immediate construction of second road
tunnels for the Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels, but there is a project to build an evacuation tunnel parallel
to the current Fréjus tunnel.