§ Mrs McCurleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement about the outcome of the Council of Environment Ministers meeting on 27 June.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI was accompanied at this meeting by my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South-West, (Mr. Butcher), the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
Grammes per ECE test *Category of vehicle †Implementation dates Carbon Monoxide Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides Nitrogen oxides more than ‡2 litres 1988–89 25 6.5 3.5 1.4–2 litres 1991–93 30 8.0 No separate limit Less than 1.4 litres Stage 1 1990–91 45 15.0 6.0 Stage 2 1992–93 Limits to be decided before the end of 1987 * The table sets out the type approval limits for passenger cars. Diesel engined cars of more than 2 litres are treated as if their cubic capacity lies between 1.4 and 2 litres. † The date in each year is 1 October. The first date is the earliest that member states may require new type approvals to meet the standard. The second date is the earliest that member states may require all newly registered cars to meet the standard. ‡ Cars in this category which satisfy US 1983 test criteria will also qualify for Community type approval. The duration of the availability of this alternative will be settled in the light of decisions, to be taken by the end of 1987, on the new European test cycle. Subject to a parliamentary reserve by the United Kingdom the Council discussed a proposed directive to provide limit values and quality objectives for discharges of certain dangerous substances to the aquatic environment. Progress was made in examining the text aand towards the inclusion of DDT and pentachlorophenol, but no decisions were reached on the proposal to include chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. A brief discussion on the proposed directive on the disposal of waste from the titanium dioxide industry indicated that all member states wished to see the reduction or elimination of pollution from this source, but there was no agreement on how this should be achieved. The proposal was remitted for further consideration at the next Environment Council.
All member states welcomed a new proposal for a directive to continue indefinitely as from 1 October the present ban on the importation into the Community of skins of harp and hooded seal pups and products derived therefrom. This was remitted for urgent examination with a view to early agreement.
Substantial agreement was reached on a proposed directive to restrict further the marketing and use of polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated
398WIn the context of a proposed directive on standards for car exhaust emissions the council reached an agreement, ad referendum in the case of the United Kingdom and subject to a general reserve by Denmark. The United Kingdom hopes to confirm its agreement at an early meeting of the Council; meanwhile, a number of outstanding technical points remain to be satisfactorily clarified.
The standards in the agreement are as follows:
terphenyls (PCTs). Member states will be obliged to prohibit the new use of these substances in existing applications by July 1986. The new measures will apply to preparations (including used oils) with a PCB/PCT content higher than 0.01 per cent. by weight.
The Council received an interim report on the Commission's review of the technological and economic implications of the proposed directive on the control of emissions from large combustion plants.
The Commission responded to my earlier requests with a statement on progress towards the integration of the environmental and agricultural policies in the Community. This work will be reflected in the "Green Paper", which the Commission intends to publish in July on the prospects for the CAP, for the purposes of public consultation. This will be followed by a full report on the subject of the integration of these policies to be given to the next meeting of the Environment Council in November.
I introduced a memorandum calling for Community action to encourage the widespread production and sale of decorative paint containing no deliberately added lead. 399W This was very favourably received and the Commission will examine the question and bring forward appropriate proposals for consideration by Ministers.
The Council formally adopted previously agreed directives on the assessment of the environmental effects of certain public and private projects and on containers of liquids for human consumption, and a decision on a Commission work programme concerning an experimental project for information on the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community. Other instruments adopted were a regulation to amend the protection given to cyclamen under a previous Council regulation implementing within the Community the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and a decision on a supplement in respect of cadmium to the Convention of the Rhine against chemical pollution.