European cities challenge the European Commission over vehicle emissions regulation

On the 17th May 2018, Paris, Brussels and Madrid challenged a vehicle emission regulation that was proposed by the European Commissions and has since been ratified by national governments, as reported by ‘La Tribune’. The landmark hearing that took place was the first time cities have presented arguments to the European Court of Justice as ‘concerned citizens’.

“The joint action of the mayors of Paris, Brussels and Madrid reveals the leading role of cities as the main experts in the problems of citizens and, therefore, the main defenders of their causes,” said Manuela Carmena, Mayor of Madrid. She noted that "Cities must be the bastions of conscience".

The cities have taken issue with Regulation 2016/646, and the length of time it gives vehicle manufacturers to meet the NOx emission limits that were originally agreed by the Member States and the European Parliament in 2007. Regulation 2016/646 was needed as the emissions levels that cars were meeting in the course of laboratory tests were not being met on the road.

The regulation states that from September 2017 for new models and 2019 for new vehicles, NOx emissions on the road can exceed the limit achieved in the laboratory by up to 110%. Furthermore, from January 2020 for new models and 2021 for new vehicles, the laboratory limits can still be exceeded by up to 50%. These new requirements are known as the Real-world Driving Emissions (RDE) standards. 

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo has described these as “a license to pollute”. If the cities win, the 2007 limit of 80 mg/km of NOx emissions will come into force, and will have to be met in the on-road tests.

This news comes in the same week the European Commission announced it would launch the latest set of legal proceedings against five EU countries (including France) for repeatedly breaching legally binding EU air pollution rules.

Source: story first published by La Tribune on 15/05/2018

Link to full story: La Tribune