
Input to Environment Council debate on Sustainable Road Transport
This letter to European Environment Ministers was sent as input to the discussion on Sustainable Mobility scheduled for the Council meeting on 14th October 2004. It was sent jointly by T&E and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).
T&E, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, and EEB, the European Environmental Bureau, call upon the ministers to:
- Urge the Commission to come forward with a ‘Euro 5’ proposal for cars and vans for 2008 and a ‘Euro 5/6’ proposal for lorry engines for 2008/2010, with values corresponding with the 2003 proposal from the German Umweltbundesamt;
- Ask the Commission to start preparations for a legally binding follow-up of the car industry’s voluntary CO2 commitment, to achieve the agreed 120 g CO2/km target by 2010 at the latest;
- Demand that noise standards for all types of vehicles – road, rail and air – are dealt with in the Environment Council, just like the emissions standards. In the meantime, tighten the noise standards for car tyres by 4 dB(A) as of 2007, and increase pressure on the speed and quality of the UN-ECE work on noise test cycles.