To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the progress made by United Kingdom motor manufacturers in the development of clean engine technology. [9317]

Although development of clean engine and after-treatment technologies is undertaken on an increasingly globalised basis, work done in this area in the UK continues to place its manufacturers among world leaders.The speed of development has been largely determined by the increasingly stringent emissions standards which have been set in recent years. Emissions standards recently agreed at the EU Environment Council for passenger cars, for 2000 and 2005, together with proposals in the pipeline for other vehicles, will provide a further stimulus to technological development in this area. Meanwhile, the Government's decision to provide fiscal incentives for heavy vehicles meeting more stringent emissions standards should also stimulate development of new technologies.