Euro 5 Impact Assessment - Automotive Industries Association of ...

The policy option would have some indirect impacts as well in terms of competitiveness.The automotive industry could become more competitive in markets outside the EU withstrict environmental regulation in force, through being able to produce vehicles equippedwith advanced environmental technologies. Moreover, it should be noted that at present,the EU is the world leader in diesel technology for light duty vehicles, whilst sales ofdiesels in Japan and in the US are minimal. A key reason for the limited sales in othermarkets relates to the higher pollutant emissions from diesel vehicles. They are unpopulareven though their CO 2 emissions are considerably lower than equivalent petrol vehicles.Cleaner diesel vehicles are therefore a necessary requirement for making diesel technologyviable in the parts of the world that use US or Japanese emissions standards. Encouragingthe development of cleaner diesel vehicle technology will have a positive impact on theinternational competitiveness of EU industry through expanding the size of the globaldiesel market and making European technology exportable to the rest of the world.Further development of EU emissions standards ensures their continued use in othermarkets around the world. At present there are three main systems used around the worldfor setting vehicle emission limits, these are those from the EU, the United States andJapan. Currently there is widespread use of EU standards in OECD countries such asAustralia and emerging markets around the world, including in China and India. As manyof these markets have significant air quality problems and are experiencing high growth inthe use of cars, there is continued demand for better standards. Current high levels of oilprices and concerns over security of supply, is increasing the level of interest in dieseltechnology in a number of markets. So driving forward the development of cleaner dieseltechnology is an important need which could provide competitiveness benefits. Thereforefurther evolution of EU policy in this area, will sustain the use of the Euro system so be inthe interests of both EU based manufacturers and equipment suppliers.Finally, a policy that makes it necessary to develop and introduce new environmentaltechnologies would benefit indirectly the component suppliers in the automotive industry,who would benefit from increasing revenues.• Affordability of carsThe necessary technological developments will result in an increase in consumer prices ofnew vehicles, which would negatively affect consumers in the European Union. However,consumers would also benefit from the proper functioning of the internal market indirectlythrough greater competition between manufacturers and the reduction in barriers to crossbordervehicle purchases.5.1.2.2. Environmental impacts• Air qualityThe policy option would result in improvement in air quality through reducing the levelsof pollution produced by road transport. A decrease in the areas under threat of ozone andeutrophication would be a result of reduced air pollution from vehicles. Furthermore,cleaner air in cities would also reduce damage to buildings and cultural heritage.• Biodiversity14