UPDATED: EU unveils remodelled tyre labelling proposal

Publication date: 16 July 2009

Revised legislative proposals for a new EU tyre efficiency and noise label were tabled by the European Commission last week, after it accepted a first-reading amendment by MEPs changing the legal base of the draft rules from a directive to a regulation.

Many EU governments backed the change last month, and the commission agrees a regulation will cut costs and ensure a more uniform application of the rules. This is because, unlike directives, regulations are immediately binding in all member states as they do not need to be transposed into national law.

As well as changing the legal base of the proposal, the commission's new text includes parliament's first-reading amendments that the executive considers "acceptable". These include a proposal to specially adapt the A to G labelling requirements for tyres designed for use in snow and ice conditions.

But the commission has rejected a number of the parliament's other amendments and left them out of its revised proposal. These include the addition of an EU "low-noise" mark alongside the A to G label for the quietest tyres, and an exemption from the rules for tyres produced before July 2012.

A call from MEPs for the commission to set up a new EU tyre labelling information website with a fuel efficiency calculator by September 2010 also fell on deaf ears. The commission said such a website would be "extremely costly to monitor for a limited effectiveness".

EU governments will reopen their discussions based on the revised commission proposal shortly. The Swedish EU presidency has said it wants to start negotiations on the draft law with the parliament in late September in order to secure a deal by December.

Amended proposal: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters

Source: ENDS

16-07-2009 New version:

New version: Amended proposal: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters