Legal provisions of COM(1996)248-2 - Quality of the petrol and diesel fuels

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier COM(1996)248-2 - Quality of the petrol and diesel fuels.
document COM(1996)248 EN
date October 13, 1998


Contents

Article 1 - Scope

This Directive sets technical specifications on health and environmental grounds for fuels to be used for vehicles equipped with positive-ignition and compression-ignition engines.

Article 2 - Definitions

For the purpose of this Directive:

1. 'petrol` means any volatile mineral oil intended for the operation of internal combustion positive-ignition engines for the propulsion of vehicles and falling within CN codes 2710 00 27, 2710 00 29, 2710 00 32, 2710 00 34 and 2710 00 36;

2. 'diesel fuels` means gas oils falling within CN codes 2710 00 66 and used for self-propelling vehicles as referred to in Directive 70/220/EEC and Directive 88/77/EEC.

For gas oils used for engines in non-road mobile machinery and agricultural tractors Member States may require the same sulphur content as defined for diesel fuels in this Directive or the sulphur content as defined for diesel fuels in Directive 93/12/EEC.

Article 3 - Petrol

1. No later than 1 January 2000, Member States shall prohibit the marketing of leaded petrol within their territory.

2. (a) Member States shall ensure that, no later than 1 January 2000, unleaded petrol can be marketed within their territory only if it complies with the environmental specifications set out in Annex I.

(b) Without prejudice to the provisions of subparagraph (a), Member States shall, from 1 January 2000, permit the marketing within their territory of unleaded petrol complying with the specifications of Annex III.

(c) Member States shall also ensure that, no later than 1 January 2005, unleaded petrol can be marketed within their territory only if it complies with the environmental specifications set out in Annex III.

3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a Member State may be allowed, on a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 1999, to continue to permit the marketing of leaded petrol, until at the latest 1 January 2005, if it can demonstrate that the introduction of a ban would result in severe socioeconomic problems or would not lead to overall environmental or health benefits because of, inter alia, the climatic situation in that Member State.

The lead content of leaded petrol shall not exceed 0,15 g/l and the benzene content shall comply with the specifications in Annex I. The other values of the specifications may remain unchanged compared to the present situation.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, a Member State may be authorised, on a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 1999, to continue to permit the marketing within its territory, until at the latest 1 January 2003, of unleaded petrol with a sulphur content which does not comply with the specification for sulphur content in Annex I but which does not exceed the current content, if it can demonstrate that severe difficulties would ensue for its industries in making the necessary changes in their manufacturing facilities during the period of time between the date of adoption of this Directive and 1 January 2000.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, a Member State may be authorised, on a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 2003, to continue to permit the marketing within its territory, until at the latest 1 January 2007, of unleaded petrol with a sulphur content which does not comply with Annex III but which does comply with Annex I, if it can demonstrate that severe difficulties would ensue for its industries in making the necessary changes in their manufacturing facilities during the period of time between the date of adoption of this Directive and 1 January 2005.

6. The Commission may authorise the derogations referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 in accordance with the Treaty.

The Commission shall notify the Member States and inform the European Parliament and the Council of its decision.

7. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, Member States may continue to permit the marketing of small quantities of leaded petrol with the specifications mentioned in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3 to a maximum of 0,5 % of total sales to be used by old vehicles of a characteristic nature and to be distributed through special interest groups.

Article 4 - Diesel fuel

1. (a) Member States shall ensure that, no later than 1 January 2000, diesel fuel can be marketed within their territory only if it complies with the environmental specifications set out in Annex II.

(b) Without prejudice to the provisions of subparagraph (a), Member States shall, from 1 January 2000, permit the marketing within their territory of diesel fuel complying with the specifications of Annex IV.

(c) Member States shall also ensure that, no later than 1 January 2005, diesel fuel can be marketed within their territory only if it complies with the environmental specifications set out in Annex IV.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, a Member State may be authorised, on a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 1999, to continue to permit the marketing within its territory, until at the latest 1 January 2003, of diesel fuel with a sulphur content which does not comply with the specification for sulphur content in Annex II but which does not exceed the current content, if it can demonstrate that severe difficulties would ensue for its industries in making the necessary changes in their manufacturing facilities during the period of time between the date of adoption of this Directive and 1 January 2000.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, a Member State may be authorised, on a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 2003, to continue to permit the marketing within its territory, until at the latest 1 January 2007, of diesel fuel with a sulphur content which does not comply with Annex IV but which does comply with Annex II, if it can demonstrate that severe difficulties would ensue for its industries in making the necessary changes in their manufacturing facilities during the period of time between the date of adoption of this Directive and 1 January 2005.

4. The Commission may authorise the derogations referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 in accordance with the Treaty.

The Commission shall notify the Member States and inform the Council and the European Parliament of its decision.

Article 5 - Free circulation

No Member State may prohibit, restrict or prevent the placing on the market of fuels which comply with the requirements of this Directive.

Article 6 - Marketing of fuels with more stringent environmental specifications

1. By way of derogation from Articles 3, 4 and 5, Member States may require that in specific areas fuels may only be marketed if they comply with more stringent environmental specifications than those provided for in this Directive for all or part of the vehicle fleet with a view to protecting the health of the population in a specific agglomeration or the environment in a specific ecologically sensitive area in a Member State, if atmospheric pollution constitutes or may reasonably be expected to constitute a serious and recurrent problem for human health or the environment.

2. A Member State wishing to make use of a derogation provided for in paragraph 1 shall submit its request in advance, including the justification for it, to the Commission. The justification shall include evidence that the derogation respects the principle of proportionality and that it will not disrupt the free movements of persons and goods.

3. The Member States involved shall provide the Commission with data on ambient air quality for the area in question a well as the predicted effects on air quality of the measures proposed.

4. The Commission shall provide this information to the other Member States without delay.

5. Member States may give their comments on the request and its justification within two months of the date of the Commission's provision of information.

6. The Commission shall take a decision on the request of Member States within three months after the date on which Member States have submitted their comments. The Commission will take Member States' comments into account and will notify them of its decision and inform the European Parliament and the Council at the same time.

7. Any Member State may refer the Commission's decision to the Council within one month of its notification or, in the case of a non-decision, refer the matter to the Council within one month of the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 6.

8. The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within two months of the matter being referred to it.

Article 7 - Change in supply of crude oils

If, as a result of exceptional events, a sudden change in the supply of crude oils or petroleum products renders it difficult for the refineries in a Member State to respect the fuel specification requirements of Articles 3 and 4, that Member State shall inform the Commission thereof. The Commission, after informing the other Member States, may authorise higher limit values in that Member State for one or more fuel components for a period not exceeding six months.

The Commission shall notify the Member States and inform the European Parliament and the Council of its decision.

Any Member State may refer the Commission's decision to the Council within one month of its notification.

The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within one month of the matter being referred to it.

Article 8 - Monitoring compliance and reporting

1. Member States shall monitor compliance with the requirements of Articles 3 and 4 on the basis of the analytical methods set out in Annex I and II.

2. The Commission will promote the development of a uniform system for fuel quality monitoring. The Commission may for the purpose of developing such a system request the assistance of the European Committee for Standardisation.

3. The Commission shall establish a common format for the submission of a summary of national fuel quality data no later than 30 June 2000.

4. Each year by 30 June Member States shall submit their summary for the preceding calendar year to the Commission for the first time by 30 June 2002.

Article 9 - Review process

1. The Commission shall, periodically and for the first time not later than 12 months from the date of adoption of this Directive but in any event not later than 31 December 1999, and in the light of the assessment carried out in accordance with the requirements of Article 3 of Directive 98/69/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC (13), submit to the European Parliament and the Council a proposal for a revision of this Directive as an integral part of the strategy designed to produce effects to meet the requirements of the Community air quality standards and related objectives.

2. The proposal shall contain environmental specifications complementing the mandatory specifications stipulated in Annex III for petrol and Annex IV for diesel fuels on the basis, inter alia, of accumulated knowledge concerning requirements on emission reductions related to air quality, the effective functioning of new pollution abatement technologies and developments affecting international fuel markets.

3. In addition to the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, the Commission may, inter alia, bring forward

- proposals taking into consideration the particular situation of captive fleets and the need to propose levels of specifications for the special fuels they use,

- proposals setting levels of specifications applicable to liquid petroleum gas, natural gas and biofuels.

Article 10 - Procedure for adaptation to technical progress

Any amendments which are necessary in order to adapt the measuring methods as laid down in the right hand section ('tests`) of Annexes I, II, III and IV to this Directive, to take account of technical progress, shall be adopted by the Commission assisted by the Committee established in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 96/62/EC (14) and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 11 of this Directive.

Such adaptation must not result in any direct or indirect modification of the limit values laid down in this Directive or to any change in the dates from which they apply.

Article 11 - Committee procedure

1. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee referred to in Article 10 a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

2. The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.

If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

If, on the expiry of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

Article 12 - Repeal and amendment of the Directives related to the fuel quality of petrol and diesel fuels

1. Directives 85/210/EEC, 85/536/EEC and 87/441/EEC are repealed as from 1 January 2000.

2. Directive 93/12/EEC is amended by deleting Article 1(1)(b) and Article 2(1) as from 1 January 2000.

Article 13 - Transposition into national legislation

1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than 1 July 1999. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

Member States shall apply these measures from 1 January 2000.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 14 - Austria

Article 7 of Directive 85/210/EEC, as far as the benzene content of petrol referred to in Article 4 of that Directive is concerned, shall, until 1 January 2000, not apply to Austria.

Article 15 - Entry into force of the Directive

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 16 - Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.