REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
December 21, 1999
The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association ACEA said the Commission should encourage European Union states to introduce tax incentives similar to those planned in Germany to bring the sulphur content of fuels down to 10 parts per million (ppm).
"We've written to the Commission to ask it to support the German government," said Giovanni Margaria, emissions and fuels director of ACEA.
He said 10 ppm was permitted under EU legislation and was also technically feasible.
Lower-sulphur fuels would improve environmental conditions and help European carmakers catch up technologically with their Japanese counterparts, Margaria said. The average sulphur content of petrol sold in Japan is already below 10 ppm.
ACEA said it would be wrong to renegotiate recently agreed laws under which the sulphur content of petrol and diesel will fall to 50 ppm by 2005.
But it said the EU should back countries which introduce tax incentives to encourage reductions in sulphur, which causes pollution by dangerous dust particles called particulates, as well as nitrous oxides, which produce harmful ground-level ozone.
Germany introduced tax incentives in August this year for the introduction of so-called "sulphur-free fuels" - containing no more than 10 ppm - which will be effective from January 2003.