The European Parliament adopted, by 644 votes to 2 with
11 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending the proposal for a
regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on type-approval of
hydrogen powered motor vehicles and amending Directive 2007/46/EC. The report
had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Anja WEISGERBER
(EPP-ED/DE) on behalf of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer
Protection. The amendments were the result of a compromise between Parliament
and Council.
The main amendments were as follows :
- "hydrogen powered vehicle" means any motor vehicle that uses hydrogen as fuel to propel
the vehicle. The Commission had defined it as any motor vehicle that
uses pure hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas as fuel to
propel the vehicle;
- the
Commission must adopt certain implementing measures. These include the
detailed rules for labelling or other means of clear and rapid
identification of the vehicle as set out in Annex VI point 16, which
states that labels or other means of identification shall be used to indicate
to rescue services that the vehicle is powered by hydrogen and that
liquid or compressed (gaseous) hydrogen is used. These measures must be
adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny;
- the
Commission may adopt certain other implementing measures, including
specification for the requirements relating to, inter alia, the use of
pure hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas/biomethane; and
impact protection of the vehicle with regard to the integrity of
hydrogen components and systems. Those measures must also be adopted in
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny;
- Parliament
made some amendments to the annexes, particularly Annex I (list of
components subject to type-approval) and Annex VI (requirements for
the installation to hydrogen components and systems) Hydrogen leakage
detection sensors are subject to type-approval.
Members inserted some new recitals into the text:
- the
CARS 21 High Level Group final report stated that efforts with a view to
increasing international harmonisation of motor vehicle regulations
should be maintained where appropriate, with a view to involve the key
vehicle markets and to extend harmonisation to areas not yet covered,
notably both in the framework of the 1958 and the 1998 Agreements of the
UNECE. In line with this recommendation, the Commission should continue
to support the development of internationally harmonised requirements
for motor vehicles under the auspices of UNECE. In particular, if a
Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles is
adopted, the Commission should consider the possibility of adapting the
requirements of this Regulation to those of that GTR;
- hydrogen
mixtures could be used as a transition fuel towards the use of pure
hydrogen, to facilitate the introduction of hydrogen powered vehicles in
countries where there is a good natural gas infrastructure. The
Commission should therefore develop requirements for the use of mixtures
of hydrogen and natural gas/biomethane, especially a mixing ratio of
hydrogen and gas which takes account of technical feasibility and
environmental benefits;
- owing
to the characteristics of the fuel, hydrogen powered vehicles may
require a specific treatment from rescue services. It is, therefore,
necessary to lay down requirements for the clear and rapid
identification of such vehicles to inform those services of the fuel
stored on board the vehicle. Whilst the identification should be fit for
purpose it should, as far as possible, avoid being of a nature that is
likely to concern the public;
- hydrogen
powered vehicles are unlikely to be successful on the market unless adequate
filling station infrastructure is available in Europe. The Commission
should therefore look into suitable measures to support the
establishment of a Europe-wide filling-station network for hydrogen
powered vehicles;
- innovative small vehicles, designated under EC
type-approval legislation as L category vehicles, are considered as
early adopters of hydrogen as a fuel. This is because introducing
hydrogen for these vehicles requires less effort, as the technical
challenge and level of investment required is not as high as with cars.
The Commission should, no later than 1 January 2010, evaluate the
possibility of regulating the type-approval of hydrogen L category
vehicles.