Conclusions from the Environment Council meeting on 28 and 29 June 1993 Meeting in Luxembourg on 28 and 29 June 1993, the Environment Council adopted (by qualified majority) a Directive which aims to render emission standards for light utility vehicles as severe as those currently in place for private cars (Directive 70/220/EEC of 20.3.1970). The ... Meeting in Luxembourg on 28 and 29 June 1993, the Environment Council adopted (by qualified majority) a Directive which aims to render emission standards for light utility vehicles as severe as those currently in place for private cars (Directive 70/220/EEC of 20.3.1970). The Dutch government voted against this measure because it intends to promote the use of severer standards based on fiscal measures. At the same time, the Council discussed a proposed Directive which would in fact increase the severity of emission standards for motor vehicles and thus modify the existing Directive 70/220/EEC. The Council also reached an agreement concerning the decision on the Convention of biological diversity, signed by the Community and the Member States in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Eighteen states have already concluded the ratification procedures, and the Convention will be effective after thirty states have ratified it. Protecting the ozone layer was another topic discussed. The Council studied the Commission propositions (COM(93)102 of 16.3.1993) on the ratification by the Community of the Montreal Protocol which was adopted in Copenhagen in November 1992 and on the introduction of a shorter timetable than the one proposed by the Montreal Protocol on limiting the production of hydrofluorocarbons and methyl bromide. No decision was reached on these two topics and the Council has recommended that they be studied further.
