Directive 1998/70 - Quality of petrol and diesel fuels - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 1998/70
Original proposal	COM(1996)248
CELEX number i	31998L0070

Avis juridique important

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Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC

Official Journal L 350 , 28/12/1998 P. 0058 - 0068

DIRECTIVE 98/70/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3) in the light of the joint text approved on 29 June 1998 by the Conciliation Committee,

• (1) 

  Whereas disparity between the laws or administrative measures adopted by the Member States on specifications of conventional and alternative fuels used by vehicles equipped with positive-ignition and compression-ignition engines creates barriers to trade in the Community and may thereby directly affect the establishment and functioning of the internal market and the international competitiveness of the European vehicle and refining industries; whereas in accordance with the provisions of Article 3b of the Treaty, it therefore appears necessary to approximate the laws in this field;

• (2) 

  Whereas Article 100a(3) of the Treaty envisages that Commission proposals aimed at the establishment and functioning of the internal market and concerning, inter alia, health and environmental protection will take as a base a high level of protection;

• (3) 

  Whereas primary air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, unburnt hydrocarbons, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, benzenes and other toxic exhaust emissions which contribute to the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone are emitted in significant amounts through the exhaust and evaporative fumes of motor vehicles thereby posing directly and indirectly a considerable risk to human health and the environment;

• (4) 

  Whereas despite the increasing stringency of vehicle emission limit values laid down by Council Directive 70/220/EEC (4), and by Council Directive 88/77/EEC (5), further measures to reduce atmospheric pollution caused by vehicles and other sources are necessary in order to achieve satisfactory air quality;

• (5) 

  Whereas Article 4 of Directive 94/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) introduced a new approach with regard to emission reduction policies for and beyond the year 2000 and required the Commission to examine, inter alia, the contribution that improvements in the quality of petrol and diesel and other fuels could make to reducing air pollution;

• (6) 

  Whereas, in addition to an initial stage of fuel specifications beginning in the year 2000, provision must be made for a second stage, to come into effect in 2005, to enable the industry to make the necessary investments to adapt its production plans;

• (7) 

  Whereas petrol and diesel fuel complying with the specifications set out in Annexes I, II, III and IV are already available on the market in the European Community;

• (8) 

  Whereas the European auto/oil programme, the details of which are outlined in the Commission's communication on a future strategy for the control of atmospheric emissions from road transport, contributes towards a scientific, technical and economic basis for recommending the introduction at Community level of new environmental fuel specifications for petrol and diesel fuels;

• (9) 

  Whereas the introduction of environmental fuels specifications for petrol and diesel fuels is an important element of the cost-effective package of Europe-wide and...

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