EU’s TCMV votes to adopt Real Driving Emissions test procedure

21 May 2015

On May 19, 2015, the EU’s Technical Committee—Motor Vehicles (TCMV) voted in favor of a proposal that would amend Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 and introduce Real Driving Emissions (RDE) test procedures at the Euro 6 level for light-duty vehicles. The proposal was voted in with “two minor technical amendments” and is expected to come into force starting September 2017 a Commission spokeswoman said. The RDE test emission limits and the dates of applicability are scheduled to be decided later this year.

One recent amendment to the proposal would see the test procedures introduced in two phases. During a first transitional period the test procedures should only be applied for monitoring purposes, while afterwards they would be applied together with binding quantitative RDE requirements to all new type approvals/new vehicles. The final quantitative RDE requirements would then be introduced in two subsequent steps.

After the meeting, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) called the proposal incomplete. Mr Jonnaert, Secretary General of ACEA said: “ACEA calls on the Commission to urgently deliver a complete proposal for Real Driving Emissions by June or July at the latest for a positive decision in the regulatory committee. We need to make more progress on clarifying all testing conditions to ensure a robust RDE regulation could commence from September 2017. Automobile manufacturers remain concerned about the piecemeal approach the Commission is taking in preparing this proposal. This is not smart regulation. We need clarity in advance so that we can plan the development and design of vehicles in line with the new requirements.”

The Technical Committee—Motor Vehicles is a comitology committee that assists the European Commission in preparing legislative proposals and policy initiatives.

Source: European Commission