Motor vehicles: reducing noise, protecting citizens' health

We shared the overall objective of the Commission's proposal as an important step forward in the fight against the harmful effects of noise emissions from motor vehicles on public health. And that is why we have introduced an adequate level of protection against noise", said Salvatore Tatarella MEP on the sidelines of the vote by which the European Parliament has approved the new Regulation on noise emissions from motor vehicles.

According to EU Member States, at least half of the population in urban areas is exposed to noise levels above 55 dB as a result of ambient road traffic. The purpose of this Regulation proposal is to ensure a high level of health and environmental protection as well as a reasonable safeguard of the internal market for motor vehicles.

"We tried to correct and improve the Commission's proposal, considering the latest technical innovations and the overall feasibility of the requirements that the sector will have to meet in production cycles", pointed out Salvatore Tatarella MEP.

The EPP Group introduced substantive technical adjustments to the Report, in particular the methods for the measurement of noise levels, the categorisation of European vehicles' classification, as well as provisions governing the limit values. The EPP Group also supported the inclusion of a specific category for small volume car manuafacturers with well defined noise limit figures.