Court supports EU decision on fuel additive
European Court of Justice rules against US firm that sells MMT on the EU market.
Europe’s highest court has rejected a claim from an American company that an EU decision to restrict a potentially risky chemical compound was unlawful. The outcome will be seen as a vindication of the precautionary principle, the ‘better-safe-than-sorry’ approach that underpins many EU laws to protect health and the environment.
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In a judgement yesterday (8 July), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that an EU law to restrict the fuel additive MMT was lawful. MMT is a manganese compound added to petrol to stop it igniting too quickly. Although hardly used in the EU, talk of banning it sparked a high-stakes lobbying battle inside the European Commission in 2008. (See this European Voice.com article for more.)
The EU imposed restrictions on MMT in 2009, citing the risk of damage to human health and possible damage to car engines. Under the EU’s fuel quality law, MMT in fuel shall be limited to 6 milligrams of manganese per litre from 2011, falling to 2mg per litre from 2014.
Afton, the only company that sells MMT on the EU market, said this amounted to a de facto ban, and that the limits were arbitrary and unscientific.
Almost no MMT is used in fuel on the EU market, but the company feared that an EU ban could be copied by other countries. According to Afton, MMT is used in 45 countries.
The ECJ rejected the company’s claim that restrictions were unlawful. “In the absence of adequate and reliable data”, EU lawmakers were faced with “serious doubts…as to whether MMT was harmless for health and the environment”, the court said. Therefore the EU was justified using the precautionary principle “to take protective measures without having to wait for the reality and the seriousness of those risks to be fully demonstrated”.
The ECJ also rejected the company’s complaint about a legal requirement that all fuel containing MMTs bear the label “contains metallic additives”. This was an appropriate way to ensure consumers’ right to information, the judgement said.
Under the fuel quality law, the European Commission must carry out a risk assessment of metallic additives in fuels and work out a testing process by 2013. This could prove tricky, as officials have struggled to design a testing methodology in the past, following similar legal requirements.
Fact File
Controversial additive
MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) has been used as a fuel additive for more than 30 years, but questions are being asked about potential damage to human health.
In 2006, seven scientists signed the Brescia declaration, which declared that MMT was as risky as lead and should be banned from use in fuel. Germany has taken this step and the European Parliament called for an EU-wide ban in 2008. Afton maintains that MMT poses no health risk.
The Canadian government banned MMT in 1997 on public health grounds. The ban was overturned following legal action instigated by Afton, then called the Ethyl corporation.
Afton said in a statement: “We look forward to co-operating with all the relevant European bodies to carry out a high level of scientific assessment by the required deadline, and on this basis, revise the current limits.”
Mike Lewis, Afton’s vice-president and managing director for Europe, added: “Despite the overall ruling, we are pleased that the court confirmed the need for an independent scientific risk assessment and the interim nature of the limits.”
A spokeswoman for the Commission said: “The Commission welcomes the ECJ’s unequivocal endorsement of the legislation adopted by the Council and Parliament and looks forward to its full implementation by the member states.”