WRITTEN QUESTION E-3506/03 by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Community legislation on DNA.
Date: 2003-11-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: DNA, approximation of laws, biometrics, database, disclosure of information, fight against crime, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, judicial inquiry

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/567

available for lorries, they are seldom used, and the same is true for buses and trains, which, although
thought of as environmentally friendly forms of transport, use engines which no longer meet current
emission standards.

What steps are being taken to reduce pollution?

Will limit values be set which reflect the increasing levels of traffic?

Why are stricter checks of engine emissions not being introduced?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(14 January 2004)

Directive 1999/96/EC (1) introduced new emission requirements for new heavy-duty vehicles in two stages.
The Euro 4 stage, due to be mandatory from October 2006 for all new heavy-duty vehicles, will lower the
emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) by some 30 % compared to the present legal requirements while the
emission of particulates will be lowered by some 80 %. A second mandatory stage (Euro 5) will apply to all
new heavy-duty vehicles from October 2009 and this will result in a lowering of NOX by a total of 60 %
compared to the present legal requirements. Now, the Commission is investigating a further stage of
emission reduction for heavy-duty vehicles, concentrating on the primary pollutants NOX and particulates.
Further reductions could be foreseen in a Euro 6 stage in the timeframe 2012-2013.

These limit values apply to new vehicles that first enter into service on the roads of the Union. The
Commission has no plans to introduce new vehicle emission standards that vary as traffic levels increase.
However, the scientific programme of work that may lead to the definition of a Commission proposal for
the Euro 6 stage takes into account the increase in traffic throughout the Union and in regional areas.

Stricter checks of emissions are being supplemented by the introduction of new technical measures for on-
board diagnostic (OBD) systems on heavy-duty vehicles. OBD is to be a part of the Euro 4 stage from
2006. OBD will monitor non-compliance of emissions in real-time and inform the driver and repair garage
if there is a problem with the emission control systems that needs attention. The Commission is also
working on a new method for checking the in-use conformity of heavy-duty vehicles in service through
the use of portable emission monitoring systems (PEMS) which will supplement the technical measures of
the Euro 4 stage.

(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, OJ L 44, 16.2.2000.

(2004/C 78 E/0602)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3506/03

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 November 2003)

Subject: Community legislation on DNA

Experts claim that adoption of legislation on DNA at Community level would help to solve more crimes,
thanks to the employment of techniques which allow the identification of individuals, which would in turn
render Community collaboration on prosecuting crime more efficient.

C 78 E/568

Official Journal of the European Union

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27.3.2004

The disparate situations obtaining in the relevant legal frameworks of the various Community countries
constitutes a hindrance, and prevents more rapid progress being made in the prosecution of criminals and
their crimes.

Does the Commission believe that it should use its power of initiative to make a survey of the current state
of legal provisions on DNA in order to put forward standard Community legislation which would aid the
EU as a whole to solve crimes within its territory more rapidly?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(14 January 2004)

The use, within an appropriate legislative framework, of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analyses is an
effective investigation technique available to the police and judicial authorities in more and more types of
crime. It makes it possible to determine with a very high degree of probability the origin of samples of
human cells or tissues taken from the crime scene. It can therefore considerably facilitate the process of
identifying (either positively or negatively) those associated with the offence concerned.

Any legislative framework authorising the use of DNA testing is more effective if it allows genetic
databases to be created so that profiles established at the crime scene can be compared with DNA profiles
established in other criminal cases.

The Council has adopted two resolutions on the exchange of DNA analysis results. The first, dated 9 June
1997 (1),
invites the Member States to establish national DNA databases in accordance with the same
standards and in a compatible manner. The second, dated 25 June 2001 (2), lays down a minimum list of
seven markers used for the forensic DNA analyses carried out in the Member States.

In order to make police and judicial action more effective in solving crime, and subject
to legal
arrangements yet to be defined, the Commission is considering the possibility of creating national DNA
databases in all the Member States and broadening the comparison of a profile established on the basis of a
sample taken at the scene of a crime in a Member State with the profiles contained in the other Member
States’ databases.

(1) Resolution 97C 193/02 of 9 June 1997.
(2) Resolution 2001C 187/01 of 25 June 2001.

(2004/C 78 E/0603)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3510/03

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 November 2003)

Subject: Driving licences in the European Union

Can the Commission say whether the British police authorities are acting within the law in refusing to
allow a student attending Leeds University to drive within the United Kingdom, the student in question
being of Greek nationality and holding an automobile driving licence issued by the Greek authorities under
the terms of Directive 91/439/EEC (1) of 29 July 1991 (transposed by Greece and concerning the mutual
recognition of driving licences issued by Member States)?

(1) OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 1.