By Chris Jones - 21st December 2005
Public transport operators will be obliged to use ‘clean’ vehicles for at least a quarter of their fleet under new EU rules announced on Wednesday.
Commission Vice-President and Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said that the requirement would apply to any vehicle above 3.5 tonnes carrying out a public service – including buses, lorries or utility vehicles.
“Public authorities must lead by example in introducing cleaner technology and reducing vehicle emissions,” said Barrot.
“The aim is to create a bigger, more cost-effective market for clean vehicles, whether they use biofuels, natural gas, electricity, LPG, or other clean technologies.”
“Public transport operators account for one third of all EU bus purchases, so this is a significant market.”
Barrot said the new rules would lead to at least 13,000 new buses and other public service vehicles using clean technology each year.
The French commissioner admitted that clean buses were more expensive – between five and 15 per cent more than traditional technology – but stressed that EU structural funds could be used to help some regional authorities meet their quota obligations.
“As the demand continues to grow, costs will of course come down, and the higher cost will be more than offset by environmental and energy saving gains,” he added.
Barrot also stressed that the rules would apply to all public service operators – regardless of whether they were privately owned.
Wider strategy
The public service obligation to use clean technology is part of a wider strategy of reducing vehicle emissions approved by the commission on Wednesday.
But the Euro 5 proposals – which aim to cut diesel car particle emissions by 80 per cent as well as cutting nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from both diesel and petrol cars – have already been criticised for pandering to car makers and not doing enough to improve air quality.
Commission vice-president Günter Verheugen stressed that the proposals had been adopted unanimously by the college of 25 commissioners, hinting that press reports of a rift with environment chief Stavros Dimas were unfounded.
Verheugen said the project was to help the EU meet the ambitious eight per cent target for reducing CO2 emissions agreed in the Kyoto Protocol without hamstringing European car makers.
“These proposals are a very significant step forward in reducing emissions, making European cars cleaner without destroying the competitiveness of Europe’s car industry,”
he said.
“Once the Euro 5 standards are in place in the second half of 2008, road transport will contribute 10 per cent to our emissions reduction target.”
Commission figures suggest that the new standard could help reduce emissions to 25-50 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020.
But the new targets do not go far enough, according to lobby group European Federation for Transport and the Environment, which has accused Verheugen of pandering to car makers by backtracking on earlier, tougher EU proposals.
“European car makers will soon begin selling dirtier diesel cars in their home market than they export to buyers in the United States,” warned T&E director Jos Dings earlier this month.
But Verheugen said that it was important to strike the right balance between what could be achieved and the cost of doing so.
“Adding a particulate filter to a car – the only way to meet the targets we have set – costs around €390, which can be relatively easily absorbed by car makers.”
“But while the technology exists that would help reduce NOx emissions further, the cost of using it would be disproportionately high compared to the gains,” he said.
But he added that member states were free to take their own initiatives, such as tax incentives, to promote the use of even cleaner technology.
There was some cheer for green groups, however, with the new proposals closing the loophole allowing sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to benefit from more relaxed emissions targets.
“There was an exemption in the past that allowed certain SUVs to be classified as light utility vehicles, which have lower targets for emissions. This has now been scrapped,” Verheugen said.
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