§ 71. Mr. Roger KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to secure European Community-wide agreement on the reduction of emissions from diesel engines.
§ Mr. TrippierThe United Kingdom has long been pressing the Commission to bring forward tight new standards for exhaust emissions from heavy duty diesel engines. At the March meeting of the Environment Council, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State explained in more detail what we hoped to see. He urged that the draft directive should aim for the so-called US 1994 standard, which is the strictest embodied in any legislation in the world. The Commission has now published its proposal. Regrettably, it falls short of the United Kingdom's objectives and my right hon. Friend has written to the Environment Commissioner telling him that the United Kingdom will be pressing for a substantial tightening of the proposed standards. We hope that this can be achieved without further delay to a directive which is already overdue.