January 2005
http://www.dieselnet.com/
EC issues Euro 5 fiscal incentive guidelines, forms CARS 21
The European Commission has published a working paper recommending
rules for establishing fiscal incentives for cars that have cleaner
emissions than the current Euro 4 requirements. Member States that
wish to introduce such incentives should grant them for vehicles that
meet a PM emission limit of 5 mg/km. The Commission has not
recommended any specific NOx limits in regards to the tax incentive
programs.
The current mandatory Euro 4 emission standard of 25 mg/km--effective
January 2005--can be reached in most cars without the use of diesel
particulate filters. "At the present state of technological
development, it appears that a value of 5 mg/km or below can only be
met if diesel cars are equipped with particulate filters," said the
Commission.
The European emission legislation allows the Member States to
introduce tax incentives for automobiles that exceed current emission
standards. A number of countries had implemented such incentives for
Euro 4 vehicles offered ahead of time. As the Euro 4 standards are
now mandatory, tax incentives should be logically based on the future
Euro 5 limits. Since the Euro 5 proposal has been delayed, the
Commission published its recommendation to avoid fragmentation of the
internal market, with different Member States using different tax
incentive criteria.
Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria and Sweden have been all
interested in establishing their own Euro 5 tax incentive programs.
The German government was aiming at introducing incentives from
January 2005, based on the Euro 5 values that were expected to be
proposed by the end of 2004. An incentive of around €600 per vehicle
has been under consideration in Germany.
The Commission said it would produce the Euro 5 proposal in the
second half of 2005. "The future Euro 5 limit values are not supposed
to become mandatory before 2010," said the Commission about the Euro
5 timing. While no specific emission limit values were revealed that
are under consideration (those are currently discussed with the
stakeholders), the Commission said it still had doubts about whether
advanced NOx aftertreatment systems will be available in time for
inclusion in the formal Euro 5 proposal. Thus--according to the
Commission--it is likely that in the short term limit values will be
proposed for NOx emissions from diesel passenger cars and small
(class I) light duty diesel vehicles that would not require NOx
aftertreatment systems.
The announcement was made in Brussels, during a joint press
conference held by Günter Verheugen, EU Commission Vice-President
responsible for Enterprise and Industry, and Bernd Pischetsrieder,
President of ACEA. At the same conference, Verheugen announced the
creation of a high level group for a Competitive Automotive
Regulatory System for the 21st Century--CARS 21. The group's
objective is to generate recommendations to improve the worldwide
competitiveness of the European automotive industry making at the
same time Europe more attractive for foreign investments. Verheugen
named the following more particular objectives for the CARS 21 group:
- "Firstly, chart the way towards sustainable development of the
automotive industry for the next 10 years, to avoid negative
interaction and cumulative effects of the various policies.
- "Secondly, define the best possible regulatory approaches, in
order to improve the competitiveness of this industry. The new
Commission will not hesitate to break with the past, when it
comes to cutting red-tape and over-regulation.
- "Thirdly, the group shall set out the necessary conditions for
ensuring that Research and Development efforts translate into
concrete innovation that gives our industry a first mover
advantage."
Commission working paper SEC(2005)43
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/automotive/pagesbackground/pollu
tant_emission/sec_2005_43.pdf
Commission press release
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/05
/11&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
ACEA press release
http://www.acea.be/ASB/Download.nsf/LookupFilesForLatestUpdates/17EAB
483B785ABC5C1256F8800484B6C/$File/20050066.pdf
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