The European Materials Handling Federation (FEM) welcomes the revision of Directive 97/68/EC on non-road mobile machinery engine emissions, but questions two important aspects of the proposal.

The legislation impacts on three of the federation's product groups: industrial trucks, mobile elevating work platforms and mobile cranes, prompting FEM's active involvement in the revision of the directive from the outset.

FEM says it generally welcomes the proposal, in particular the proposed limit values, schedule for application and the principle of a new transition scheme.

However, the federation says two important aspects must be addressed during the decision-making process. Firstly, the transition period must be increased by one year, and two in the case of mobile cranes, to give materials handling manufacturers which do not produce their engines sufficient time to adapt their machines. Secondly, FEM suggests that a provision on replacement engines be introduced so that failed engines can be replaced with new ones without changing the whole machine.

According to FEM, since the implementation of the current legislation, its manufacturers have significantly reduced their exhaust emissions; a cut in emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxide by 95% and 96%, respectively, was reached in most engine power categories.

"The proposed legislation goes even further and will make our machines the least polluting in the world. While we support this objective, we restate the need to preserve our industry's competitiveness," the federation says.

FEM's official position can be viewed here.

FEM represents European manufacturers of materials handling, lifting and storage equipment. The sector employs 300,000 people and generates a EUR55 billion (USD62.4 billion) annual turnover.

Directive 97/68/EC regulates emissions from major air pollutants from diesel and petrol engines installed in non-road mobile machinery. The directive also provides for harmonised procedures for placing engines on the market and requires engine marking and information.

The directive is being revised. The European Commission adopted a proposal for a new regulation on non-road mobile machinery engines on 25 September 2014. If the European Parliament and the Council adopt the proposal by the end of 2015, the new regulation would be enforced at the start of 2016.

The proposed regulation extends the scope of the exhaust emission legislation to very small (<19 kW) and very big engines (>560 kW). It introduces a new emission stage, Stage V, that would be applicable from 2019 and 2020, respectively, depending on the power range.