February 2005INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
On 12-13 February, the FIVA’s Legislation Committee met to continue the development of FIVA’s EU regulatory work. The meeting was used to review all relevant issues being considered or discussed by the EU institutions (as reported in the EU Legislation Update), to gather and share information of regulatory developments in the Member States represented by the Legislation Committee members, and to review the status of the information gathered by the Member State Legislation questionnaire issued by the Commission last year. It was noted during the meeting that progress has been made in heightening the profile of FIVA within the EU institutions – specifically with the need to lobby on the proposal for a new EU Drivers Licence Directive, and a range of road safety measures. The Commission is tasked with managing the Legislation workload and is reliant upon the input of all FIVA members given that regulatory developments at the national level whether in the EU or not – are all relevant to ensuring a better understanding – and therefore allowing a greater chance of influencing regulatory developments at the EU level. To ensure the success of that work, a meeting between the ANFs’ legislation representatives of all EU FIVA members will be held in April to develop further member state information gathering and lobbying and EU lobbying.
On 22 February, the European Parliament (EP) Plenary session adopted its First Reading Report on the European Commission's proposal to recast the drivers licence Directive. I am pleased to report that the amendments FIVA supported during discussions in EP Transport Committee were also supported and adopted by the EP as a whole. Accordingly, amendments was adopted which state that Member States may allow "B" (car) licence holders to drive historic busses and trucks and which change the strict provisions proposed by the Commission which would have severely limited the weight of trailer which a “B” licence holder could tow so that a “B” licence holder may tow a trailer so long as the combined weight of the trailer and vehicle does not exceed 3 500 kg – and if the driver has taken part in specific training that combined weight can be 4250 kg so long as it is not used for commercial purposes (the additional driver training is not necessary if the weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg). Further to the January EU Legislation Update, the whole EP did adopt a slightly different approach to the motorcycling issue compared to the Transport Committee – but which is still not deemed satisfactory by the Motorcycle Community.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIALOGUE
The European Parliament is currently considering a proposal to restrict the placing on the market and use of extender oils and tyres containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) above certain thresholds on the grounds that they are carcinogenic. Some of these oils are used as extender oils in the production of tyres - incorporated into the rubber matrix and remaining there locked in the rubber of the final tyre. Consequently, the extender oil can also be present in the tyre debris. Recent technical processes has allowed the content of certain PAHs in extender oils to be reduced to low limits and tyre producers have been willing to work towards reducing levels. The Directive will be applied to economic operators from 1 January 2009. FIVA is assessing whether this may impact historic vehicles.
INFORMATION
Austria abandons motorway car toll
The Austrian government has decided to abandon proposals for a toll on cars using the country's motorways as a means of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and congestion. The decision is based on the findings of a study by the University of Graz on the potential environmental and economic impacts of motorway tolls which found that tolls could cut CO2 emissions by between 570,000 and 1.58m tonnes and traffic volume by between 5.1% and 14.3% but would also reduce Austrian GDP by 0.2% and 0.6%. A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said that "The ecological benefits of the measure were in no relation to the economic costs."
UK labels energy performance of cars
The UK's motor industry has revamped its consumer labelling scheme for showing the energy performance of new cars. The restructured label goes beyond EU minimum requirements for displaying the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometre travelled. The scale is linked to tariff bands used by the UK finance ministry to calculate vehicle excise duty. The information provided to consumers now also includes the estimated cost of both vehicle tax and the fuel needed to travel 12,000 miles. The industry intends to have the label on all new cars by the autumn.
German diesel filter incentive plan settled
Germany intends to start subsidising diesel cars with very low particle emissions next year. For two years from 1 January 2006, new cars emitting under 5 milligrams of particles per kilometre will qualify for a €350 reduction in vehicle tax. Old cars retrofitted with particle filters to meet the same standard will attract a €250 tax cut. The threshold for incentives is exactly in line with that suggested by the European Commission last month for EU states like Germany that want to encourage early cuts in fine particle emissions ahead of the next legal standards in 2010. The offer will only run for two years because German car makers have committed themselves to start fitting particle filters as standard.
European Commission forced to repeal decision on spare parts
In late January, the European Commission amended the 2000 end-of-life vehicles directive's rules on the presence of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in vehicles, allowing carmakers to use the four banned heavy metals in spare parts destined for use in cars sold before the ban came into effect in July 2003. However, the European Parliament then complained that it had not been consulted and forced the Commission to repeal its decision. The Commission is now expected to make the proposal again in a wider review of the ELV Directive in the Spring. The Comission had argued that the exemption is justified because "product reuse, refurbishment and extension of life-time are beneficial".
Greener diesel boosted
European standardisation body CEN has claimed new technical standards for diesel emulsion fuels as a significant advance for efforts to reduce air pollution from road transport. Emulsion fuels are essentially watered-down diesel. Compared with conventional diesel they typically cut emissions by 80% for smoke, 60% for particulates, 30% for NOx and 5% for CO2 without the need for engine modifications.
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The FIVA Legislation Commission members are: Geoff Smith, (Chairman); Winfried Kallinger; Svend Aage Tholstrup; Adalberto Gueli; David Davis, Tiddo Bresters, Horst Bruning, Patrick Rollet, and CarlaFiocchi (Secretariat)