WRITTEN QUESTION E-1817/03 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Air pollution.
Date: 2003-06-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: air quality, combustion gases, commercial vehicle, degree of pollution, motor vehicle pollution

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/47

(cid:1) Poland: EUR 133 916 932;

(cid:1) Slovakia: EUR 22 262 812;

(cid:1) Slovenia: EUR 6 441 243.

The financial envelopes of the existing Member States will remain unchanged. The total budget available
for EQUAL will, therefore, increase by EUR 252 010 071 as a result of enlargement.

(2004/C 78 E/0045)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1817/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(2 June 2003)

Subject: Air pollution

Will the Commission state the typical air pollution resulting from the emissions of a passenger vehicle,
light van and goods lorry in each case while idling in a traffic queue and while running at typical cruising
speeds?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(4 August 2003)

The same amount of emissions from a vehicle can cause rather different levels of air pollution depending
e.g. on the weather (wind speeds, presence of an inversion layer etc), on the insolation (ozone formation)
and on the topography (e.g. street canyons). This is why the Auto-Oil programme used a simulation
programme, Tremove, in order to model the impacts of pollutant emissions in a number of different
European cities. The proposals for emission limit values for motor vehicles that the Commission then
produced were based on these calculations. It is thus not possible to define ‘typical’ levels of air pollution
resulting from emissions.

The levels of emissions of air pollutants are much more readily understood than the pollution they cause,
because they can be directly measured. They are thus used in the type approval procedure for motor
vehicles. However, it is difficult to identify ‘typical’ cruising speeds, which is why the legislation for light-
duty vehicles (cars and vans) makes reference to a drive cycle that is intended to simulate real-world
driving. The emission limit values laid down in Directive 1998/69/EC (1) (in terms of grams per kilometre)
are, therefore, a good indication of the air pollution produced by light-duty vehicles.

The situation is somewhat more complex for heavy-duty vehicles where the emissions are being measured
not per kilometre driven but per unit of work done by the engine (grams per kilowatt-hour). The
corresponding emission limit values are laid down in Directive 1999/96/EC (2). The emissions on a per-
kilometre basis would differ markedly between different types of lorries, e.g. because the same kind of
engines are used for very different types of heavy-duty vehicle, and because the load can vary significantly.
A simulation model such as Tremove would be required to obtain values on a per-kilometre basis.

The idling state of the engine is part of the drive cycle used for the type-approval of passenger cars. The
emissions while idling are thus implicitly regulated by Community type-approval legislation. However, it
should be pointed out that the emissions while idling in a traffic queue are strongly influenced by the
degree of congestion encountered (stop-and-go traffic) and can thus not be answered in a general manner.
The Commission does not have detailed information on this topic at present.

There are many transport models that use emission factors for establishing the quantity of emissions
emitted by motor vehicles at different constant road speeds and these emission factors are always in the
process of update as new vehicles meeting more stringent emission standards enter the market and the
data on which the emission factors are based is improved.

C 78 E/48

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Taking typical emission factor data and concentrating only on diesel vehicles and the main regulated
pollutants of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and particulates, a modern diesel engined passenger car may emit
40 % less NOX and 20 % less particulate travelling at a steady 50 kilometre per hour (km/h) than at a
steady 120 km/h.

A diesel engined light commercial vehicle may emit 43 % less NOX and 70 % less particulate travelling at a
steady 50 km/h than at a steady 120 km/h.

A diesel engine articulated heavy-duty vehicle may emit 3 % less NOX and 12 % more particulate travelling
at a steady 50 km/h than at a steady 100 km/h.

Of course, these figures can all be influenced by ambient conditions such as temperature, humidity and
road gradient.

(1) Directive 98/69/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to measures to be taken
against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC, OJ L 350,
28.12.1998, specific table p. 15.

(2) 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, OJ L 44, 16.2.2000, specific table p. 22.

(2004/C 78 E/0046)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1820/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(2 June 2003)

Subject: Sausage meat

Is the Commission satisfied that the use of pork cheek or jowl in sausage meat is still consistent with
healthy eating, particularly for children and old people, given the possible build-up of drug residues and
disease in the pituitary glands?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2003)

Definitions of ‘meat’ and ‘fresh meat’ are set down in Council Directive 64/433/EEC of 26 June 1964 on
health problems affecting intra-Community trade in fresh meat (1). The terms mean that all parts of
domestic swine which are suitable for human consumption and which have not undergone any treatment
other than cold treatment to ensure preservation may be considered as fresh meat. The Directive prescribes
ante mortem and post mortem health inspections and lists the meats that the official veterinarian declares
unfit for human consumption. The use of hygienically produced pork cheek or jowl meat, in accordance
with the requirements of the Directive, as raw material for the production of sausage meat is thus
acceptable in principle. The term ‘sausage meat’, as such, is not defined in Council Directive 94/65/EC of
14 December 1994 laying down the requirements for the production and placing on the market of minced
meat and meat preparations (2). Sausage meat must be produced in accordance with the requirements in
that Directive for meat preparations.

The pituitary gland or hypophysis, being located at the base of the brain in the cranial cavity, is not
harvested when cheek meat is removed.