October 2006
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIALOGUE
Consultation on the End of Life Vehicle Directive considers amending the exemptions on heavy metals
In October, the European Commission instigated a consultation on possible amendments to the End of Life Vehicles Directive. The original Directive, adopted in 2000, includes a recital which states:
“ Vintage vehicles, meaning historic vehicles or vehicles of value to collectors or intended for museums, kept in a proper and environmentally sound manner, either ready for use or stripped into parts, are not covered by the definition of waste laid down by Directive 75/442/EEC and do not fall within the scope of this Directive.”
However, this new consultation is designed to address the fact that the original Directive stated that from 1 July 2003, materials and components of vehicles should be heavy metal free and the consultation is designed to review exemptions which were built into the original Directive for – in particular for lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium - on the grounds that the use of quantities of these products in components was unavoidable. The questions being posed now are designed to ascertain whether the use of these metals is still unavoidable.
FIVA is talking to the European Commission to understand better whether the actions under consideration might impact upon the preservation and use of historic vehicles – if that proves to be the case, FIVA will make a submission to explain the concerns.INFORMATION
Air quality variance across the EU
A study of 26 European cities has shown that most of them do not fully comply with EU air quality rules. The study looked at 20 environmental indicators (such as air quality, public transport and waste and water management) and found that in three quarter of the cities, daily concentration values of fine particles were exceeded more than 35 days each year, the while in six of the cities, concentrations of fine particles were more than three times over these levels. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels were also found to be more than double the EU's 40ug/m3 target for 2010 in several major cities like London, Paris, Barcelona and Rome and nearly half of 26 cities were found to have at least one hotspot with emissions exceeding this target. Only six cities proved compliant: Heidelberg, Goteborg, Nicosia, Saragossa, Tampere and Turku.
EU Member States support revision of environmental principles of Transport White paper
During a Transport Council at the end of October, the EU member states supported the principle of decoupling increasing mobility levels from their negative environmental and social effects – but also called for a continued shift of transport to more environmentally friendly modes where appropriate - especially for long distance journeys. The Ministers also welcomed the contribution that intelligent transport systems can make in increasing the efficiency and sustainability of transport. During the meeting, Jacques Barrot, the Transport Commissioner, confirmed that the Commission will publish a methodology for calculating the external costs of transport in mid-2008.
Environment Commissioner supports EU car CO2 emissions law
The EU Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas has called on his Commission colleagues – in particular the Commissioner for Industry Mr. Günter Verheugen, to support binding legislation on carmakers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new cars. The move follows news that European, Japanese and Korean carmakers are not going to meet their commitment to an average of 140g/km CO2 by 2008-09. The New thinking will also consider how to make further progress towards its target of 120g/km by 2012.
Commission proposes EU mercury exports ban
The European commission has proposed to ban all exports of mercury metal from the EU from July 2011 – however, chemical compounds and finished products containing mercury will not be affected. The Commission has taken the action in order to protect the Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said the plans "underline our determination to protect people and the environment from exposure to this highly toxic metal". A coalition of anti-mercury groups applauded the move. The commission was playing a "leadership role in reducing mercury in the environment by controlling supply," campaigner Elena Lymberidi said.
World halt organisation sets global air quality standards
The WHO has now published global air quality guideline standards for PM, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide and has also called for action to reduce air pollution. The new guidelines go beyong those set in 2000 and recommend:
• A maximum 20 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) over 24 hours for SO2
• 100 ug/m3 over eight hours for ozone.
The FIVA Legislation Commission members are: Horst Bruning (Chairman); Tiddo Bresters, Andrew Burt, David Davis, Adalberto Gueli, Winfried Kallinger; Patrick Rollet, Svend Aage Tholstrup; and Carla Fiocchi (Secretariat). Andrew Turner of EPPA works with the Committee.