Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-30-Speech-3-177"
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"en.20010530.10.3-177"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, noise is one of the key environmental issues. It is one of the few environmental problems which is affecting a great number of citizens and which actually falls within their frame of reference. This was noticed as early on as during the fifth environment action programme, when the Commission promised proposals then, but nearly ten years have passed and not a great deal has been done about it.
Of all noise sources, the noise generated by cars and lorries is the most crucial one. The noise of cars which exceed 40 to 50 km/hour does not so much originate in the engine as it does from the tyres, and particularly from the contact between the tyres and the road surface.
The Council of Ministers of the Internal Market have neglected the noise aspect enormously. They hardly considered the environmental aspect at all. That is why the European Parliament decided at second reading to try to reduce the noise of car tyres by two decibels. Two decibels may not appear much, but three decibels represents nearly a cut of the noise by half. The common position was so weak that 70% of the cars already comply with the new noise standards, at least in northern Europe.
The gravity of the negotiations did not move the Council of Ministers a great deal. Even the compromise on the part of Parliament simply to halve the requested reduction of two decibels down to only one decibel was viewed unfavourably by the Ministers. We reached a compromise ultimately, however. In the compromise, we passed the ball back to the Commission, which is now under heavy pressure to prepare more far-reaching proposals on noise production in tyres in future.
Noise-reducing tyres are already available. They have to become the norm in future, and the EC’s industry must opt for these rather than side with the people lagging behind.
It is also important to review legislation regarding the rolling resistance of tyres. This could particularly benefit the CO2-problem, also known as the greenhouse problem. A reduction of five to ten percent is certainly within the realms of possibility. Here too, we are waiting for the European Commission’s next move. The Conciliation Committee has finally managed to reach a reasonable compromise, and that is why I recommend the entire European Parliament to back this achieved result.
I should like to make a brief reference to the future. A hefty noise reduction cannot only be achieved by including noise-reducing tyres in a European standard, but also by using noise-reducing asphalt. This being the case, the noise generated by road traffic can then be reduced by five decibels. Even in my own country, the Netherlands, where 40% of the population complain about traffic noise, a pilot project is running, involving noise-reducing asphalt, which produces a reduction by ten decibels.
I hope that in its new proposals, the European Commission will not only consider noise-reducing tyres, but will also look into noise-reducing asphalt, for the noise of traffic is a thorn in the side of an increasing number of people."@en1
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