Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2010)362 - Amendment of Directive 97/68/EC as regards the provisions for engines placed on the market under the flexibility scheme SEC(2010)828 SEC(2010)829 - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2010)362 - Amendment of Directive 97/68/EC as regards the provisions for engines placed on the market under the flexibility scheme ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2010)362  |
| date | 07-07-2010 |
Directive 97/68/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery (hereafter “the Directive”) regulates the maximum exhaust emissions carbon oxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates (PM) from diesel engines installed in construction, agricultural and forestry machinery, railcars & locomotives, inland waterway vessels, constant speed engines and small petrol engines used in different types of machinery.
The Directive foresees emissions limit stages of increasing stringency with corresponding compliance dates. Manufacturers must ensure that new engines comply with these limits in order that they can be placed on the market.
Directive 2004/26/EC i introduced the current applicable stage of emission limits for the majority of diesel engines referred to as Stage III A. These limits will be replaced by the more stringent Stage III B limits progressively as of 1st January 2011. The type approval period for these engines has started from 1st January 2010. A great diversity of machinery production (approximately 1500 companies in the EU) is affected.
To comply with Stage III B limits, current engines will need to be substantially modified. Changes to the configuration, size or weight of engines have a knock-on effect for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) who will have to adapt completely the design of their machines in order to accommodate the modified engines. This process can only start once the engine is fully developed. Technical solutions for complying III B engines are not in general yet finalised. Thus, OEMs are not in a position to fully redesign the machinery where the engine is to be installed. While for some of them, the Stage III B emissions requirements will not pose very significant problems, in other non-road mobile machinery a Stage III B compliant engine is far from being finalised and substantial further research and technological development is needed to ensure that machinery can be placed on the market with compliant III B engines.
Compliance costs for manufacturers to cope with the new emission limits are significant. These costs include for example research and development costs, equipment redesign costs, after treatment devices costs, documentation and labelling costs, etc.
From autumn 2008 onwards most of the Union based industry producing non-road mobile machinery has been unexpectedly and severely hit by the global financial and economic crisis. Namely construction equipment and agricultural machinery are heavily affected. For railcars the crisis has negative impacts, however, less severe. In general, sudden falls in sales caused a large decrease in income and available capital to finance the necessary technology research and development for machinery with Stage III B compliant engines in all power categories and applications within the time limits in the Directive.
Directive 2004/26/EC also introduced the so-called flexibility scheme to facilitate the transition between the different emission stages. The flexibility scheme allows the OEM to place on the market, during the period between two successive stages of exhaust emissions limit values, a limited number of non-road mobile machines which are fitted with engines that still comply with the exhaust emission limits of the previous stage. The flexibility scheme applies to compression ignition (diesel) engines used in construction, agricultural and forestry machinery, generator sets and pumps using constant speed engines, but not to locomotives, railcars and inland waterway vessels. It allows the OEM either to place on the market i for each engine power category a limited number of machines not exceeding 20% of the OEM's annual sales of machinery (calculated as the average machinery sales in the EU of the latest 5 years) or i a fixed number of machines as stipulated in the Directive. This second option is intended for smaller enterprises producing lower volumes of engines.
It is proposed to modify the provisions of the flexibility scheme to further mitigate the economic costs of the transition of emission Stages III A to III B by extending its application for some type of non-road mobile machinery while maintaining the entry into force of the exhaust emission limit Stage III B to preserve the objective of the Directive to reduce emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants in the Union. The Impact Assessment accompanying this proposal provides detailed information on the different options which have been assessed in order to mitigate the impact of the economic crises on OEMs. The assessment concluded that manufacturers will not be able to place in the near future Stage III B compliant locomotives on the market, as more research is required, and consequently extending the proposed flexibility measures to engines used in locomotives did not appear relevant. In 2010 intensive discussions took place with experts from industry and Member States to assess the situation for locomotives, which had over time evolved. It allows the Commission to conclude that some engine manufacturers have progressed in the meantime in developing compliant IIIB engines for locomotives while OEMs will yet not be entirely ready to place III B compliant locomotives on the market by 1st January 2012 as foreseen in the Directive. Therefore it appeared necessary to apply the flexibility scheme also to locomotives. The analyses concluded that this extension will have a very limited impact on the environment, while at the same time it will allow railway companies to realise the necessary investments.
Representatives of Member States and Industry stakeholders have been consulted on the proposal through the Group of Experts on Machinery Emissions under the Directive (GEME). In addition the Commission carried out between May and June 2009 an in-depth consultation of Member States authorities and all relevant stakeholders, i.e. industry, environmental organisations, workers associations. The proposal takes into account a Technical Review of the Directive i by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) which includes, inter alia, an evaluation of the need to amend the provisions of the flexibility scheme; an Impact Assessment study by an external consultant i to assess the impacts of the proposed policy options as laid down in the draft Technical Review of JRC, two complementary studies on the impacts for the rail sector (railcars, locomotives) and the impacts of the options of the Technical Review of JRC, including consequences of an amendment of the flexibility scheme for SMEs i.
A detailed Impact Assessment accompanying this proposal has been carried out on the basis of the technical studies and the stakeholder consultation. It covers the different scenarios for engines covered by the existing flexibility scheme and identifies the need to include railcars. In addition to the conclusions of the Impact Assessment locomotives have been added to the flexibility scheme.
The Impact Assessment analyses different options ranging from the implementation of a scrapping scheme, variations of the flexibility scheme as regards the allowed percentage/number of engines to the set-up of a trading system whereby firms that would not use the entire flexibility could sell their flexibility rights to firms that need additional flexibility. The use of a scrapping scheme has been discarded as it is not suitable to assist OEMs in financing R&D to make Stage III B machinery available. The set-up of a flexibility trading system was considered as a too complex system in a short time scale and thus disproportionate to the expected achievements
The option to increase the existing flexibility scheme and enlarge it to sectors not yet included has been considered as the best option balancing the environmental impact and an economic benefit in saved compliance costs for a limited period of time.
The aim of Directive 97/68/EC, as well as this proposed amendment, is to contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal market for engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery while protecting human health and the environment. The legal basis is thus Article 114 of the Treaty.
The proposal foresees the following amendments to Directive 97/68/EC:
- An increase of the percentage of the number of engines used for application in land based machines, placed on the market under the flexibility scheme in each engine category from 20% to 50% of the OEM’s annual sales of equipment and an adaptation of the maximum number of engines that may be placed on the market under the flexibility scheme as an optional alternative, in the period between emission Stage III A to emission Stage III B.
- An inclusion of engines used for the propulsion of railcars and locomotives in the flexibility scheme providing the possibility for the OEM to place on the market a limited number of engines under the flexibility scheme.
- These measures will expire on 31 December 2013.
Contents
The proposal has no implication for the Union’s budget.