WRITTEN QUESTION E-3578/03 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Environmentally friendly diesel fuel.
Date: 2003-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, energy policy, environmental impact, public transport, substitute fuel

C 78 E/828

Official Journal of the European Union

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27.3.2004

This is concretised by the proposal for a Council Directive concerning the status of third country nationals
who are long-term residents (1), which was adopted by the Council on 25 November 2003. In its recent
Communication on immigration, integration and employment (2) the Commission suggested that Member
States consider granting political rights to long-term residents, in particular at local level, when transposing
this Directive into national law. The Commission indeed believes that granting long-term resident third-
country nationals political rights is important for the integration process and that the new Treaty should
provide a basis for so doing. Until its entry into force there is no legal basis to do so.

The Commission has carried out a study on ‘The legal status of third-country nationals who are long-term
residents in a Member State of the European Union’ (April 2000) which includes a comparison of access to
voting rights for third-country nationals. The Commission is, furthermore, aware of a number of studies
carried out by independent researchers concerning third-country nationals’ political
integration and
participation in democratic processes. Under the 6th Research Framework Programme 2002-2006 priority
has been given to research in the field of nationality, and a comparative study on rules regulating the
acquisition and loss of nationality in the Member States will commence in 2004. The study will also
examine the status of quasi-citizenship for third-country nationals that are granted in several Member
States on the basis of long-term residence.

(1) OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001.
(2) COM(2003) 336 final.

(2004/C 78 E/0881)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3578/03

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: Environmentally friendly diesel fuel

GECAM is the name of a new diesel fuel developed and marketed by Cam-Technologies research teams at
the beginning of 1997. By virtue of its particular composition, this environmentally friendly fuel cuts
emissions of pollutants (fine particulates and nitrogen oxides). The advantage of GECAM is that sooting
and fuel consumption are reduced through improved combustion due to its 10 % water content. Carbon
dioxide emissions are some 5 % lower than with traditional diesel
fuel
consumption over a given distance. This environmentally friendly fuel is increasingly used in public road
transport in almost all major cities in Italy, without any adjustment of the engine being necessary.

fuels, given almost identical

Many engines in public transport vehicles no longer meet European emission standards.

Will the Commission say by which means (including financial means) it is promoting environmentally
friendly fuels?

Does it not agree that the introduction of environmentally friendly diesel fuels such as GECAM throughout
Europe would make sense? If so, what measures are being taken to promote such a move in public
transport?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2004)

the introduction of environmental

following the
The Commission promotes
Communication on alternative fuels in 2001 (1), is currently studying the technical and economic status
and developments of alternative fuels for road transport. For this purpose the ‘Alternative Fuels Contact
Group’ has been established. The work of this group is focusing on natural gas and hydrogen, and on
measures by which the Community could promote their use. Commission efforts have focussed on
alternative fuels that have the potential of achieving 5 % market share Union-wide by 2020. Dispersions of

friendly fuels and,

27.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/829

diesel fuel and water, such as developed by CAM-Technologies and by other manufacturers, are known by
the Commission to be used in a few cities in France and Italy as a fuel for public transport and in some
small scale trials in other Member States but are not included in this work. A study on the eco-balance of
alternative fuels recently launched by the Commission also includes an assessment of these emulsion fuels.

At the proposal of the Commission, two important legal
promotion of environmentally friendly fuels.

instruments were adopted in 2003 for the

Directive 2003/30/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2003 (2) sets reference values of 2 %
in 2005 and 5,75 % in 2010 for the targets to be adopted by Member States as the minimum proportion
of biofuels and other renewable fuels to be placed on their markets.

Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the
taxation of energy products and electricity (3) gives the possibility to Member States of applying a reduced
level of taxation to environmentally-friendly fuels. For instance, according to Article 16 of this Directive, a
tax reduction is allowed under certain conditions when a motor fuel contains water.

(1) COM(2001) 547 final.
(2) OJ L 123, 17.5.2003.
(3) OJ L 283, 31.10.2003.

(2004/C 78 E/0882)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3579/03

by Christoph Konrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: Hunting season for carrion crows in the EU

Is the Commission aware that in transposing the EU bird protection directive into national law EU

1.
Member States have adopted widely differing rules on the hunting season for carrion crows?

2.
How does the Commission view the fact that farmers, forestry owners and hunters in Germany suffer
far greater economic losses than in other EU Member States owing to the fact that the hunting season is
restricted in that country? Does it consider that this practice places this interest group in Germany at a
disadvantage?

3. What view does the Commission take of the fact that other countries frequently issue derogations for
hunting carrion crows, while the competent German authorities refuse to do so?

4. What conditions must be met for such a derogation or the extension of the hunting period to be
permissible?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

1.
The rules governing the fixing of hunting seasons under Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April
1979 on the conservation of wild birds (1) are given in Article 7 of the Directive. The Commission, with
the Member States, has compiled information on the pre-nuptial migration and reproduction periods of all
huntable species in each Member State in order to facilitate the application of the fixing of hunting seasons
in accordance with the Directive (2).

The Commission has received no evidence that restrictions on hunting has resulted in greater

2.
economic losses in Germany than in other Member States.