Ecology, EU – Baltic States, Transport

The levels of air pollution and emissions are specified in the EU Directive 2007/46/EC, which provides a common legal framework for the so-called “type approval” of cars, vans trucks, buses and coaches. Such “type approvals” are subject to fully harmonised EU requirements for all EU member states and include two types of legal actions:

- legislation defining the emission limits, such as Regulation 715/2007/EC - approved by the European Parliament and the Council in 2007; and

- implementing legislation defining the test procedures - reviewed according to comitology procedure by the technical Committee for Motor Vehicles (TCMV) where all EU members states are represented.

The Euro 5 and 6 Regulation 715/2007/EC, also agreed by the European Parliament and Council in 2007, specifies emission limits for all important toxic pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx, i.e. the combined emissions of NO and NO2).

Thus, currently applicable NOx emission limit for new diesel passenger cars and light vans sold in the EU is 80 mg/km.

Controlling and testing diesel vehicles’ emissions

Currently emissions are measured on a laboratory test cycle (NEDC) which does not reflect the emissions of vehicles in normal driving conditions. The Commission has been working intensely in developing robust procedures for the emission testing of vehicles in real driving.

Presently, nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions of diesel vehicles measured on the road may in reality exceed substantially the emissions measured on the regulatory test cycle (NEDC), though in most cases probably in line with the applicable legislation.

To address this shortcoming, the Commission has developed Real Driving Emission (RDE) test procedures. They replace the current laboratory based testing and will assess the emission performance of vehicles on roads.

The new procedure was voted in May 2015 by the respective regulatory committee (Technical Committee for Motor Vehicles, TCMV) where all EU member states are represented; it comes into force in January 2016.

RDE test procedure to eliminate defect devices

The RDE procedure will complement the laboratory based procedure to check that the emission levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), and at a later stage also particle numbers (PN), measured during the laboratory test are confirmed in real driving conditions. This means that the car will be driven outside and on a real road according to random acceleration and deceleration patterns.

The pollutant emissions will be measured by portable emission measuring systems (PEMS) that will be attached to the car. RDE testing will reduce the currently observed differences between emissions measured in the laboratory, and those measured on road under real-world conditions, and to a great extent limit the risk of cheating with a defeat device.  

In May 2015 the new RDE test procedure received a positive vote from the Technical Committee for Motor Vehicles, where all EU member states are represented (with effect from January 2016). In the initial stage the portable emissions system will be used for monitoring purposes and it will have no implications on the conformity certificate issued by the national type-approval authority (TAA).

Work is now underway to establish the regulatory not-to-exceed (NTE) emission limits applicable in RDE testing. These limits define the acceptable small degree of deviation from the emission limit set in Regulation 715/2007/EC to take into account measurement uncertainties present in the on-road testing. The NTE approach has proven its robustness in the assessment of, for example, emissions form heavy-duty vehicles. Other elements that are being discussed are test boundary conditions, such as temperature, altitude or velocity. All the details related to the RDE procedure for passenger cars and vans are currently being discussed with stakeholders and EU states.

The Commission services aim to have the not-to-exceed emission limits applicable for all type approvals in the autumn 2017 and for new vehicles in the autumn 2018. The not-to-exceed limits should reflect environmental objectives as well as economic and technical feasibility.

A new test procedure, i.e. the World-wide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures (WLTP), has been adopted in the United Nations system (UNECE) for measuring pollutant emissions and CO2 emissions from passenger cars and light commercial vans in the laboratory.

The implementation process in the EU has started in parallel. The focus of the improvements is CO2 emissions testing; for NOx, RDE testing will complement laboratory test procedures.

Emission testing

Before vehicles can be put on the market, they are tested by a national technical service in accordance with the EU legislation. The national type-approval authority (TAA) grants the approval on the basis of these tests. The manufacturer may make an application for approval in any EU country.

Once approved in one EU member state, all vehicles of its type may be registered throughout the EU. The type approval legislation requires that cars meet the limit values 'under normal conditions of use'.

In practice this requirement is implemented by establishing a test cycle to put the car through its paces, and checking whether the cycle emissions are below the limit value. Any car whose emissions are below the limit value is fit for type approval.

The detailed description and rules for these test are laid down in the implementing legislation pursuant to the Euro 5/6 Regulation 715/2007/EC. The same monitoring system will continue to apply for the RDE testing and the portable emission measurement system.

Penalties regarding type-approval violations

Under the Euro 5/6 legislation, it is for the member state which has type-approved a vehicle to impose penalties for breach of the type-approval procedure. In particular, if it were determined that a car type-approved in a member state had been modified to beat the cycle, the member state which type-approved the car would be responsible for imposing penalties.

More specifically, article 30(1) of Directive 2007/46/EC states that if a member state which has granted an EC type-approval finds that new vehicles do not conform to the type it has approved, it shall take the necessary measures, including, where necessary, the withdrawal of type-approval, to ensure that production vehicles are brought into conformity with the approved type. In addition, Article 46 of the same Directive requires Member States to determine the penalties and to take all necessary measures for their implementation.

Illegal defeat devices in the EU

Article 3(10) defines defeat device as any element of design which senses temperature, vehicle speed, engine speed (RPM), transmission gear, manifold vacuum or any other parameter for the purpose of activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating the operation of any part of the emission control system, that reduces the effectiveness of the emission control system under conditions which may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal vehicle operation and use.

Defeat devices are forbidden in the EU. Article 5 (2) of Euro 6 Regulation 715/2007/EC prohibits the use of defeat devices.

Reference: Commission press release “FAQ - Air pollutant emissions standards”, Brussels, 25 September 2015.

In: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release