WRITTEN QUESTION E-0962/04 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The increasing dangers to public health and the environment caused by the increase in emissions of small particulate matter from motor vehicle engines.
Date: 2004-03-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European standard, air quality, diesel engine, engine, health risk, motor vehicle, pollution control measures, tax incentive, technical standard

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/925

(2004/C 84 E/1022)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0962/04

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 March 2004)

Subject: The increasing dangers to public health and the environment caused by the increase in emissions

of small particulate matter from motor vehicle engines

1.
Is the Commission aware that, despite the lower fuel consumption of new motor vehicles, the
emission of very small particulate matter from diesel engines is increasing, because more efficient
combustion has reduced the size, but sharply increased the amount, of particulate matter, with the result
that it penetrates more deeply into the lungs?

Is the Commission aware that, in the case of petrol engines, too, as a result of new direct injection
2.
systems which do not require the fuel to be vaporised, ultrafine particulate matter with a diameter of
between 20 and 80 nanometers is emitted?

Is the Commission aware that, particularly in and around major conurbations, the concentration of
3.
small particulate matter is so great that it can result in cancers, asthma, bronchitis, myocardial and cerebral
infarcts and, possibly, even affect genetic material (gene mutation)?

4.
Is the Commission aware that the Netherlands Junior Minister for the Environment believes that the
is too lax and has been strongly
Euro 4 standard, which will apply in the EU from 2005 onwards,
influenced by motor vehicle manufacturers and oil companies, with the result that, above all, particulate
matter emissions will remain excessively high and contribute to global warming and that he therefore feels
that European emission standards should be reviewed and made much more stringent?

5.
By what date may we expect a Commission proposal for a review, as suggested by the Netherlands
Junior Minister? Will the disquieting data about the increase in the amount of dangerous particulate matter
act as an incentive for it to speed up the review?

Source: The 11 March 2004 edition of ‘De Volskrant’, a Dutch newspaper

(2004/C 84 E/1023)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0963/04

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 March 2004)

Subject: The Euro 4 standard and consequent restrictions on the fitting of particle traps to prevent the

emission of small particulate matter from motor vehicle engines

1.
Can the Commission confirm that little or no improvement may be expected over the next few years
as regards the current level of emissions of particulate matter from cars, since most new private cars,
including those where fuel consumption is comparatively high, will be able to comply with the Euro 4
standard in force in the EU without any specific measures being taken? That standard lays down that diesel
engines for private cars and goods vehicles must emit less CO2 and nitrogen and that the maximum
amount of particulate matter emitted by diesel-engined cars must be reduced from 0,5 gm to 0,025 gm,
although no maximum emission values will be laid down for petrol engines with regard to particulate
matter.

2. What is the Commission’s assessment of the proposal put forward by experts that, henceforth, the
crucial factor should be not one of maximum emissions of particulate matter calculated in grammes but of
amount per kilometre, so that a standard of this type would have a greater impact on public health?

Is the Commission aware that the flexible standards in force from 2005 onwards will result in only a
3.
few motor vehicle manufacturers fitting their vehicles with the new traps which are now available (cid:1)
although, according to an inquiry commissioned by the national automobile associations of
the
Netherlands, Germany and Austria, they could reduce emissions to virtually zero (cid:1) because that would
entail a price increase of a few hundred euro per car, something which would hamper them in their
attempts to increase their market share?