July 22 - The European association for the abnormal road transport and mobile crane rental industry, ESTA, has welcomed news that the European Parliament has agreed to extend the timetable for the introduction of new Stage V engine emissions regulations.
"It comes as a huge relief and show what can be achieved by concerted and effective action and lobbying," said Søren Jansen, director of ESTA.
"Many feared that the Commission's original plans would have meant the industry cutting capacity by two-thirds while they adjusted to the new regulations. This would have caused great uncertainty and upheaval in the crane market for rental companies and manufacturers alike."
The European Commission has confirmed that new regulations for engines in non-road mobile machinery will become mandatory on January 1, 2019.
Under the Commission's original proposals, all original equipment manufacturers (OEM) were given a 12-month transition period after the regulations had come into force to adapt their machines to Stage V engines.
Now, all manufacturers have been granted an 18-month transition period, with mobile crane manufacturers a further 12 months on top of that.
Olivier Janin, secretary general of FEM - which led the lobbying group - said: "We are extremely satisfied to see that the special needs of mobile cranes were taken into account. The extra time granted will enable manufacturers to re-design their 170 different models without hampering their competitiveness and with a marginal environmental impact."
