Mediaroom

On 6 April 2016, the Netherlands presidency reached a provisional agreement with European Parliament representatives on a draft regulation setting new requirements to grant EU type-approval aimed atreducing pollutant emissions of engines installed in non-road mobile machinery.

The agreement is subject to confirmation by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Council (Coreper).

The Dutch Minister for the Environment Sharon Dijksma commented on the agreement: “EU air quality policy is one of the priorities of The Netherlands presidency. These new rules will make a significant contribution to the reduction of air pollution. On behalf of the Council, I commend the Parliament, the Commission and previous presidencies for their willingness to achieve this important agreement.”

The regulation seeks to ensure the good functioning of the internal market and to strengthen market surveillance whileprotecting human health and the environment. It also addresses competitiveness and compliance aspects, with the aim of removing obstacles to external trade by reducing the regulatory barriers that result from diverging emission requirements.

Non-road mobile machinery

The regulation will apply to engines of non-road equipment and vehicles, covering a large variety of machines ranging from small handheld equipment (like chainsaws, trimmers and lawn mowers), construction machinery (like crawler excavators and cranes) and generating sets, to railcars, locomotives and inland waterway vessels.

These engines, which may use different types of fuel, contribute significantly to air pollution, mainly through nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions.

Emission limits

The objective is to progressively reduce emissions from new engines of non-road machinery being placed on the European market. This is expected to result in a very significant emission reduction overall.

The emissions limits for these engines are currently set out in directive 97/68/EC, but several technical reviews have shown that the legislation in its current form has to be updated as it no longer reflects the current state of technology.

Following the technical reviews, public consultations and impact assessments, the Commission presented the original proposal to update the existing legislation on 25 September 2014.

New EU type-approval procedures

Only engines which are in compliance with the requirements on emission limits and the type-approval procedures will be allowed to be placed and sold on the internal market.

The new rules will simplify the implementation stages for the introduction of new emission levels and type-approval procedures to reduce the burden for engine and non-road mobile machinery manufacturers.

A few exemptions will be permitted to address specific needs related to the armed forces, logistic supply constraints, field testing of prototypes and the use of non-road mobile machinery in explosive atmospheres.

Next steps

The European Parliament and the Council will have to confirm, in parallel and separately, the first-reading agreement in accordance with the steps provided for in the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure.

The new harmonized type-approval conditions for new engines installed in non-road machinery will start to apply gradually from 2018 up to 2020 depending on the category of the engine.