WRITTEN QUESTION E-0369/03 by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission. Bringing forward the deadline for introducing less polluting lorry engines.
Date: 2003-02-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: combustion gases, commercial vehicle, engine, environmental standard, marketing, reduction of gas emissions, tax incentive

C 222 E/188

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

As regard the limitation of the exposure of the general public to multiple sources emitting non-ionising
radiations kown as ‘electro-smog’, the Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Member on the
measures taken at European level.

On 12 July 1999, the Council adopted Recommendation 1999/519/EEC (1) limiting the exposure of the
general public to non-ionising radiation in a view of protecting human health against well-known acute
health effects. It also referred the precautionary approach to long-term possible carcinogenic effects by the
introduction of safety margins in the exposure limits. The Recommendation calls on the Commission to
prepare a report, by 2004, taking into account reports from Member States and the latest scientific data
and advice.

The recommended maximum limits are based on the guidelines established by the International
Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection and endorsed by the Scientific Steering Committee of
the Commission. The Scientific Committee on Toxicity-Ecotoxicity and the Environment confirmed on
‘the additional information which has become available on carcinogenic and
30 November 2001 that:
other non-thermal effects of radio frequency and microwave radiation frequencies in the last years does
not justify a revision of exposure limits set by the Commission’. The Commission does not plan to change
these limits.

The Commission hosted the World Health Organisation (WHO) /National Institute for Environmental
Health Science (NIEHS) meeting on the Precautionary Principle and Electromagnetic fields on 24-25-
26 February 2003. This meeting took place within the context of the extensive risk assessment conducted
the Commission, on health risks associated with the exposure to
by WHO, with the support of
electromagnetic fields. First results of this assessment will be available by the end of 2003 for extremely
low frequencies, whereas the radio frequencies assessment will be completed in 2005. The outputs of this
WHO/NIEHS conference will be posted on the Europa web site of the Commission (2).

(1) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999.
(2) http://europa.eu.int.

(2003/C 222 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0369/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2003)

Subject: Bringing forward the deadline for introducing less polluting lorry engines

In the current wide-ranging debate on transport policy, and with particular reference to the excessive use
of road transport, European efforts to introduce less polluting lorry engines are still of topical interest.
With a view to the entry into service of Euro 4 standard engines and looking ahead to Euro 5, can the
Commission say whether the process of introducing these engines onto the market can be speeded up and
what mechanisms may be envisaged for the renewal of fleets of lorries?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(21 March 2003)

Directive 1999/96/EC (1) (amending Directive 88/77/EEC (2)) introduced the mandatory Euro 4 and Euro 5
pollutant emission limits. Article 3 of Directive 1999/96/EC provides the framework for the granting of tax
incentives by the Member States to encourage the earlier introduction of new vehicles and engines that
meet the future emission limits of Euro 4 or Euro 5. Aside from this framework, there is no other process
for speeding-up the introduction of new Euro 4 or Euro 5 vehicles and engines to the market.

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/189

Manufacturers are now finalising their Euro 4 vehicles and engines where the main emphasis is on the
reduction of particulate emissions. While a forthcoming Commission proposal will add several new
technical tests to the Euro 4 package, as required by Directive 1999/96/EC, it can be expected that tax
incentives offered in Member States will soon result in the introduction of vehicles and engines meeting
the Euro 4 emission limits.

Vehicles complying with the Euro 5 emission limits (only a more stringent limit for oxides of nitrogen (cid:1)
the limits for other pollutants remain the same as for Euro 4) are unlikely to appear for some time yet. The
technology that is favoured by the European industry to comply with the Euro 5 emission limits requires
the provision of an infrastructure for the supply of a necessary additive that is a critical element for the
correct functioning of that technology.

(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 L 36, 9.2.1988.

(2003/C 222 E/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0371/03

by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission

(7 February 2003)

Subject: Movements of the tanker Stemnitsa in the frozen waters of the Gulf of Finland

Despite repeated requests and alarming warnings from the Finnish authorities, the Stemnitsa, a Greek
tanker, is sailing in the Gulf of Finland to transport oil. The ship is big for a narrow waterway, 274 metres
long, and lightly reinforced for ice only at the fore-end. The ice conditions in the Gulf of Finland are at
present exceptionally difficult. A large, fragile ship could thus break up on the expanses of pack ice, and
the consequences would be disastrous. The Finnish shipping authorities believe that the Stemnitsa’s
movements constitute a serious environmental hazard in the Baltic Sea, which is extremely vulnerable. This
applies especially when the ship is carrying oil. Russia, however, does not consider the ship unseaworthy
in frozen waters, and negotiations at authority and ministerial level have failed to resolve the problem.

The Stemnitsa is now heading for the Russian oil port of Koivisto (Primorsk), where it is supposed to pick
up a cargo of over 100 000 tonnes of crude oil. The one ice-breaker that is helping the ship to advance is
insufficient to keep the ice out of its path. Indeed, the ship has already been ice bound several times, and
the ice conditions in the Gulf of Finland, a waterway full of rocks, have continued to become more
difficult all the while. Dozens of other ships bound for Russian ports are already trapped in the ice in
different parts of the Gulf of Finland.

What will the Commission do to avert a serious environmental threat in the Union’s territorial waters and
what will it do about the constant indifference of the Russian authorities?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2003)

The Commission is aware of the difficulties of navigating in the Gulf of Finland and shares the anxieties of
the Finnish authorities regarding the risks associated with the transport of gas and oil under these
conditions. It has drawn attention on a number of occasions to the urgent need to take all appropriate
harmonised measures to prevent new disasters in the inland waterways of the Union.