Archived press release

NEW EUROPEAN STANDARDS WILL FAIL TO PREVENT "SMOG"

18 June 1996

Proposed emissions standards for new cars, due to be published today by the European Commission, will fail to eliminate "summertime smog"in the UK, warned Friends of the Earth [1].

Unless strengthened, the proposed standards will undermine the UK Government's air quality strategy, which is due to be published later this summer [2].

Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's Senior Transport Campaigner said:

"These proposals will not provide the pollution gains on which the Government will depend when it publishes its air quality strategy later this year. As a result the Government will have to bring in tougher curbs on car use if it is to meet air pollution targets."

Friends of the Earth blamed the European motor industry for the weakness of the proposed emission standards for new cars [3].

Roger Higman said:

"The motor industry should make sure the cars it sells are as clean as technically feasible. However it seems more concerned with saving money than protecting public health."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] In 1994, the European Commission set up the "Auto-Oil Programme" to use oil industry and motor manufacturing expertise to develop more cost effective ways of meeting air quality targets. A suite of new Directives is proposed on emissions standards for new vehicles, fuel quality and inspection and maintenance. The proposed standards for new cars, to come into effect on 1 January 2000, are the first formal proposals to emerge from the Programme and are being considered by Commissioners in Strasbourg today.

As a contribution to the Programme, the German Federal Environment Agency calculated the emissions standards that would be necessary to eliminate pollution problems. They estimated that reductions in emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides of 70-80% are required to ensure air quality standards for ozone, one of the main constituents of "summertime smog", are met, and have calculated proposed emission standards accordingly. These proposals are compared with existing EU standards and likely EU proposals in the attached tables.

As can be seen, the likely EU proposals are weak in respect of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

[2] On 21 May, 1996, Environment Secretary, John Gummer while discussing the air quality problem said that "the first part of the problem is to make sure that every car that is used is not dirtying the world any more than it absolutely has to. And you can get down to very very close to practically no emissions at all". (BBC World Service "Newshour")

[3] Mr. Ernie Thompson, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders claims that "in the near future there will be solutions to all the air quality issues resulting from vehicle emissions" (Engineer - 25 January 1996). However the motor industry's European trade association, ACEA, has been lobbying to weaken future EU emission controls. Representatives of the industry are believed to have met the EU Commissioners for Transport (Neil Kinnock), the Environment (Ritt Bjerregaard) and industry (Martin Bangemann), as well as the President Jacques Santer in January. This led the Swedish Environment Minister, Mrs Anna Lindh to accuse "the motor industry of seeking to weaken and delay the Commission's proposals". Mrs Lindh suggested to journalists that European vehicle manufacturers should use the new standards as a spur to competitiveness. She directed particular disdain at Jacques Calvet, Chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) for taking "a very conservative line" (Europe Environment - 7 March, 1996).

The attached tables demonstrate that the likely EU proposed standards for diesel cars have been weakened since December 1995.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust