Commission proposes Measures to tackle Lorry Pollution

Publication date: 05 September 2003

The Commission published today a draft Directive (COM(2003) 522 - COD(2003) 0205) designed to tighten up EU requirements for polluting emissions from new heavy-duty engines and to recast Directive 88/77/EEC.

com2003_522_emissions.pdf (1518 KB)

Directive 88/77/EEC has undergone four amendments. The draft Directive takes account of the various changes and updates the text. In addition, there are new technical requirements and procedures:
- for assessing the durability of heavy-duty engine emission control systems over periods of a defined useful life;
- for assessing the in-service conformity of heavy-duty engine emission control systems over a defined useful life period appropriate for the vehicle in which the engine is installed; and
- new technical requirements for on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems for new heavy-duty vehicles and engines.

The Commission proposes that the useful-life or durability periods for engines to be fitted into category N1, N2, N3, M2 and M3 vehicles be defined as follows:
- category N1: 100 000 km or five years, whichever is the sooner;
- category N2 and M2:  200 000 km or six years, whichever is the sooner;
- category N3 and M3:  500 000 km or seven years, whichever is the sooner.

The requirement to demonstrate emission compliance over the applicable useful-life period will take affect from 1 October 2005 for new type-approvals and 1 October 2006 for all type-approvals.