WRITTEN QUESTION E-1318/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Changes in the level of air pollution caused by road transport by 2020.
18. 4. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 113 E/9 desertification and have held a series of meetings which the Commission has attended. National and regional action programmes form the basis for implementation of the Convention. As a party to the Convention, the Community has a particular interest in ensuring that it is effectively implemented in the Northern Mediterranean. (1) Commission proposals: OJ C 184, 17. 6. 1997; OJ C 16, 20. 1. 1998 and OJ C 108, 7. 4. 1998. (2) Council Common Position (EC) No 41/1999 of 22. 10. 1999; OJ C 343, 30. 11. 1999. (3) Not yet published in the Official Journal. (4) OJ L 161, 26. 6. 1999. (2001/C 113 E/008) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1318/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (27 April 2000) Subject: Changes in the level of air pollution caused by road transport by 2020 FEBIAC, the Belgian car buildersí federation, claims that it is possible confidently to predict that the problem of air pollution resulting from road traffic will have been solved by 2020. The basis for its assertion is a study which it commissioned the Institute of Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) in Heidelberg to carry out. According to the federation, harmful emissions from road traffic have fallen by 30 % since 1990. It predicts that new types of engine and the gradual removal of older vehicles will result in a further fall between 2000 and 2020, with harmful substances such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzene, nitrogen oxides and soot particles down by 70 to 80 %. Does the Commission agree with Febiacís conclusion that it is possible confidently to predict that the 1. problem of air pollution resulting from road traffic will have been solved by 2020? (a) If so, on the basis of what scientific studies has the Commission reached this conclusion? (b) If not, what changes, in the Commissionís view, will be seen in the level of air pollution caused by road traffic by 2020? On what scientific studies is the Commissionís opinion concerning the level of air pollution caused by road traffic by 2020 based? 2. In the Commissionís view, what steps urgently need to be taken in order to drastically reduce the problem of air pollution resulting from road traffic by 2020? What action programmes have already been developed by the Commission in order to tackle the problem of air pollution caused by road traffic? (2001/C 113 E/009) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1567/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (19 May 2000) Subject: Tax concessions for diesel fuel More than half the cars sold in the Belgian federation last year use diesel. This makes Belgian the second most diesel-mad country (after Austria). There are scarcely any diesel cars in the Scandinavian countries, the UK and the US. Diesel emissions are not only the principal source of nitrogen oxide which is one of the key factors in global environmental problems such as ozone pollution and acid rain. What is more harmful are emissions of soot and particulates, or in scientific jargon PM10 (particles smaller than 10 micrometres). Soot particles carry dangerous substances such as heavy metals and carcinogenic polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons