Dr Martin Schiess (left) and Giovanni De Santi (right) signing the agreement in Ispra.© EU, 2011
Swiss Confederation extends collaboration with JRC on air pollution control
In an agreement signed on 16 December, the Swiss Confederation and the JRC extended their joint research and development work on exhaust emission standards until 2014. Through the close co–operation between the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the JRC, Switzerland has reinforced the information exchange with the EU in air pollution control and numerous joint projects have been undertaken since 2007.
The extended agreement will allow FOEN and the JRC to continue with the joint development of exhaust emission test procedures for combustion engines, methods for the analysis of fuels as well as test procedures for newly developed vehicles and engines. Furthermore the two parties will examine the impact of emissions on health, climate and environment. The document was signed by Dr Martin Schiess, Head of the Air pollution control and non-ionizing radiation (NIR) division of FOEN and JRC Director Giovanni De Santi at the Vehicle Emission Laboratory (VELA) in Ispra.
The first collaboration agreement, signed in December 2007, provided the formal basis for co–operative research on particulate matter emissions and allowed for informal exchange of scientific views at the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE). It also opened opportunities for other research bodies in Switzerland to co-operate with the JRC laboratories for vehicle and engine emissions.
Test procedures and emission limits will be discussed for all types of road vehicles, such as trucks, busses, passenger cars and motorbikes, as well as for non-road machinery including agricultural and construction machinery, locomotives and hand-held gardening and forestry machinery.
16/12/11