. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/250 
13 February 2009  
 (09-0755) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:    +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:   ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/
 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   
Petrol, diesel, certain gas oi ls, and other liquid fuels used  in road vehicles, non-road 
machinery, and inland waterw ay and recreational vessels. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament a nd of the Council amending 
Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel, and gas-oil and introducing a 
mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse ga s emissions from the use of road transport 
and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC, as regards the specif ication of fuel used by 
inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC (COM(2007) 18 - European 
Parliament Legislative Resolution TA/ 2008/613) (31 pages, in English).   
6. Description of content:   
Agreement has been reached on Commi ssion proposal COM(2007)18 to amend 
Directive 98/70/EC on the quality of petrol and diesel.  
The final compromise text includes a requireme nt for suppliers of energy used in road 
transport to report the greenhouse gas intensity of  that energy. The deal sets a 6% green house 
gas (GHG) intensity reduction from 2010 to 2020.  A further 4% reduction is subject to an 
assessment by the Commission by the end of 2012 and if appropriate a proposal to increase 
the target. The methodology for the greenhouse ga s elements will be adopted subsequently 
through Comitology.  G/TBT/N/EEC/250 
Page 2  
 
  The revised draft Directive will also lead to a reduction in pollutant emissions from road 
transport and non-road machinery through sett ing tighter limits on sulphur of 10ppm for 
diesel and gas-oil, and 8% on Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbons in diesel. In addition, it will 
facilitate the blending of ethanol in petrol  through an increase in the maximum ethanol 
content in petrol to 10% while allowing Member  States to request a vapour pressure waiver, 
subject to approval by the Commission so as to ensure there is no deterioration in air quality. 
An arctic vapour pressure waiv er for countries with low summer temperatures will also be 
subject to approval by the Commission.  
The revised draft Directive will assist consumers by ensuring that existing petrol blends with 
maximum ethanol content of 5% and Oxygen cont ent of 2.7% will continue to be marketed 
until 2013. It does not set limits on biodiesel c ontent. Finally, the revised draft Directive 
provides information through creating a labelling requirement for fuel containing metallic 
additives while setting a limit on the permitted level of the specific additive MMT. Non-road mobile machinery addressed in the draft Direc tive's scope includes in land waterway vessels, 
agricultural and forestry tractors, and recreational craft. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:   
Protection of the environment and public health . To contribute to the reduction of greenhouse 
gas emissions in the EU consiste nt with its target under the Kyot o protocol and with its policy 
on acting against climate change.  
8. Relevant documents:    
Impact Assessment SEC(2007)56 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/Le xUriServ/LexUriServ.do?ur i=CELEX:52007SC0055:EN:NOT   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }  To be determined.   
   
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification. 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [  ], or addre ss, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   European Commission, 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:   + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail: ec-tbt @ec.europa.eu 
The text is available on the EC-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/   
and at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/sip ade2?PUBREF=-//EP //TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2008-
0613+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN  
and can be downloaded here.