COMMON POSITION (EC) No 39/97 adopted by the Council on 7 October 1997 with a view to adopting directive 97/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC
Date: 1997-10-07
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: air quality, diesel fuel, environmental protection, motor fuel, motor vehicle, product quality













EUR-Lex - 51997AG1119(01) - EN






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51997AG1119(01)

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 39/97 adopted by the Council on 7 October 1997 with a view to adopting directive 97/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC  


Official Journal C 351 , 19/11/1997 P. 0001 





COMMON POSITION (EC) No 39/97 adopted by the Council on 7 October 1997 with a view to adopting directive 97/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of . . . relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC (97/C 351/01) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, an din 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),(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 Directives 70/220/EEC (4) and 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 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;(7) Whereas the introduction of environmental fuels specifications for petrol and diesel fuels is an important element of the cost-effective package of European-wide and national/regional/local measures that should be put into effect;(8) Whereas the implementation of a combination of European-wide and national/regional/local measures to reduce vehicle emissions is part of the Commission's overall strategy to reduce air emissions from mobile and stationary sources in a cost-effective and balanced way;(9) Whereas it is necessary to obtain in the short term a reduction, in particular in urban areas, of polluting vehicle emissions, including primary pollutants such as unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, secondary pollutants such as ozone, toxic emissions such as benzene and particle emissions;(10) Whereas this Directive should apply without prejudice to Council Directive 92/81/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonization of the structures of excise duties on mineral oils (7), and in particular Article 8 (4) thereof;(11) Whereas fuel specifications aiming at the reduction of both exhaust and evaporative emissions are generally lacking;(12) Whereas atmospheric pollution by lead arising from the combustion of leaded petrol constitutes a risk for human health and the environment and whereas therefore it is appropriate to ban the marketing of leaded petrol;(13) Whereas the need for vehicle emission reduction and the availability of the necessary refinery technology justify the setting of environmental fuel specifications for the marketing as from 1 January 2000 of unleaded petrol and diesel fuels;(14) Whereas, in order to protect human health and/or the environment in specific agglomerations or in specific ecologically sensitive areas with special problems of air quality, Member States should be permitted, subject to a procedure established in this Directive, to require that fuels may be marketed only if they comply with more stringent environmental specifications than established under this Directive; whereas this procedure is a derogation from the information procedure laid down in Council Directive 83/189/EEG in the field of technical standards and regulations (8);(15) Whereas, in order to ensure compliance with the fuel quality standards required under this Directive, Member States should introduce monitoring systems, and whereas information on fuel quality collected by Member States should be communicated to the Commission according to a common format;(16) Whereas, on the basis of a comprehensive assessment, the Commission is to submit a proposal setting down inter alia environmental specifications for petrol and diesel fuels to be applied as from 1 January 2005; whereas this proposal is to confirm, modify and complement the indicative specifications set down in this Directive; whereas the Commission's proposal may, as appropriate, also set down environmental specifications for other types of fuel such as liquid petroleum gas, natural gas and biofuels;(17) Whereas further developments with regard to reference methods for measuring the specifications set out in this Directive may be desirable in the light of scientific and technical progress; whereas to this end, provision should be made in order to adapt the Annexes to this Directive to technical progress;(18) Whereas Council Directive 85/210/EEC of 20 March 1985 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the lead content of petrol (9), Council Directive 85/536/EEC of 5 December 1985 relating to crude-oil savings through the use of substitute fuel components in petrol (10), and Article 1 (1) (b) and Article 2 (1) of Council Directive 93/12/EEC of 23 March 1993 relating to the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels (11), should be repealed accordingly;(19) Whereas the transitional measures for Austria referred to in Article 69 of the 1994 Act of Accession include Article 7 of Directive 85/210/EEC; whereas the application of this transitional measure should, for specific reasons of the protection of the environment, be prolonged until 1 January 2000,HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: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 of 2710 00 36;2. 'diesel fuels` means gas oils falling within CN code 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. 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.3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a Member State may be allowed, upon a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 1998 (12*), 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 socio-economic 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. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, a Member State may be allowed, upon a request to be submitted to the Commission no later than 31 August 1998 (13*), to continue to permit the marketing, until at the latest 1 January 2003, of unleaded petrol with a sulphur content which does not comply with Annex I but which does not exceed the current content, if it can demonstrate that the introduction of the sulphur specification as set out in Annex I would result in severe socio-economic problems.5. The Commission may authorize the derogations referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4.The Commission shall notify the Member States and inform the Council of its decision.6. 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 trough special interest groups.Article 4 Diesel fuel 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.Article 5 Free circulation No Member States may prohibit, restrict or prevent the placing on the market of fuels which comply with the requirements of this Directive as from 1 January 2000.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 set out in Annexes I and II 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 State involved shall provide the Commission with data on ambient air quality for the area in question as 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 these comments into account and will notify the Member States and inform the Council at the same time.7. Any Member States 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 authorize 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 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 Standardization.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 30 June 1999, and in the light of the assessment carried out in accordance with the requirements of Article 3 of Directive 97/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of . . . relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/220/EEC (14), 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 at least cost.2. The proposal shall contain the environmental specifications required for petrol which is marketed from 1 January 2005, confirming or modifying and complementing the indicative specifications stipulated in Annex III.3. The proposal shall also contain environmental specifications for diesel fuel of a quality compatible with the effective functioning of new pollution abatement technologies the marketing of which will be ensured from 1 January 2005, confirming or modifying and complementing the indicative specifications stipulated in Annex IV. The proposal shall also allow for a gradual increase in the availability and a balanced distribution throughout the territory of the Member States of such diesel fuel and contain a date on which only such diesel fuel can be marketed.4. The proposal shall, as appropriate, also contain environmental specifications for 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 Annexes I and II 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 (15) 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.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, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.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 hereby repealed as from 1 January 2000.2. Directive 93/12/EEC is hereby 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 the 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 date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.Article 16 Addressees This Directive is addressed to the Member States.Done at Brussels, . . .For the European ParliamentThe PresidentFor the CouncilThe President(1) OJ C 77, 11. 3. 1997, p. 1, and OJ C 209, 10. 7. 1997, p. 25.(2) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 113.(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 10 April 1997 (OJ C 132, 28. 4. 1997, p. 170), Council common position of 7 October 1997 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . .(4) OJ L 76, 6. 4. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (see page . . . of this Official Journal).(5) OJ L 36, 9. 2. 1988, p. 33. Directive as last amended by Directive 96/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 40, 17. 2. 1996, p. 1).(6) OJ L 100, 19. 4. 1994, p. 42.(7) OJ L 316, 31. 10. 1992, p. 12. Directive as last amended by Directive 94/74/EC (OJ L 365, 31. 12. 1994, p. 46).(8) OJ L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8. Directive as last amended by Commission Decision 96/139/EC (OJ L 32, 30. 2. 1996, p. 31).(9) OJ L 96, 3. 4. 1985, p. 25. Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.(10) OJ L 334, 12. 12. 1985, p. 20. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/441/EC (OJ L 238, 21. 8. 1987, p. 40).(11) OJ L 74, 27. 3. 1993, p. 81.(12*) Deadline to be checked in the light of date of adoption of this Directive.(13) See page 13 of this Official Journal.(14) OJ L 296, 21. 11. 1996, p. 55.ANNEX I ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MARKET FUELS TO BE USED FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH POSITIVE-IGNITION ENGINES >TABLE>ANNEX II ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MARKET FUELS TO BE USED FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINES >TABLE>ANNEX III INDICATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MARKET FUELS TO BE USED FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH POSITIVE IGNITION ENGINES >TABLE>ANNEX IV INDICATIVE ENVIRONMETAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MARKET FUELS TO BE USED FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WIHT COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINES >TABLE>STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS I. INTRODUCTION 1. On 29 August 1996, the Commission forwarded its proposal, based on Article 100 a, to the Council.2. The European Parliament gave its opinion on 10 April 1997, the Economic and Social Committee on 24 April 1997.The Commission forwarded its amended proposal to the Council on 3 June 1997.3. On 7 October 1997, the Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 189b of the Treaty.II. OBJECTIVE 4. The purpose of the Commission proposal, which forms part of an overall strategy for the control of atmospheric emissions from road transport in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 94/12/EC and which takes into account the results of the Auto-oil Programme, is to further improve the quality of petrol and diesel fuels. The proposal is designed to combine European-wide and national/regional/local measures with the aim to contribute to the reduction of vehicle emissions in a cost-effective and balanced way.III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION 5. GENERAL COMMENTThe common position deviates from the Commission proposal in a number of issues in order, on the one hand, to provide for a higher quality of fuels and to give industry a clear indication for the longer term, and, on the other hand, to take better account of specific national situations.6. SPECIFIC COMMENTSThe Council changed as follows the Commission amended proposal:(a) Definitions (Article 2)Diesel fuels for non-road mobile machinery and agricultural tractors are not covered, they will be dealt with, in accordance with Article 3, second paragraph, ninth indent of the common position on vehicle emissions, in the future Commission proposal to be presented no later than 30 June 1999.Subparagraph 2 of paragraph 2 allows Member States to require for such machinery and tractors that diesel fuel meet the sulphur specifications as defined in this directive or in Council directive 93/12/EEC, until new Community legislation has been adopted in this area.(b) Derogations (Article 3)(i) Leaded petrolThe Council chose a more differentiated approach as follows (paragraphs 3, 5 and 6):- an extended deadline for the derogation from the definitive ban, i. e. until 1. 1. 2005,- an additional condition for a derogation, i. e. the criterion of overall environmental benefits in the context of, inter alia, different climatic situations,- a specific provision on specifications for leaded petrol in order to ensure a higher quality of such petrol,- a permission Member States may grant as regards the marketing of small quantities of leaded petrol to be used inter alia by vintage cars.(ii) Sulphur content of unleaded petrolThe Council (paragraphs 4 and 5) took account of the difficulties of some Member States and provided for a derogation until 1 January 2003. This derogation allowed to reach the compromise on 150 mg/kg for the sulphur content of unleaded petrol (see also (c) below).(c) Compulsory specifications for petrol and diesel as from 1 January 2000 (Annex I and II)PetrolThe Council reduced the benzene content from 2 to 1 % v/v and the sulphur content from 200 to 150 mg/kg. The specification for aromatics was reduced from 45 to 42 % v/v.This solution on the specifications for sulphur and aromatics is to be assessed in the light of the indicative specifications.(d) Indicative specifications (Annex III and IV and Article 9)The Council felt that, in parallel with the Vehicle Emissions Directive, industry should have a clear indication of the specifications it will have to comply with in the longer term and established therefore indicative environmental specifications as from 1 January 2005, which, in accordance with Article 9 on the review process, would be confirmed, modified or complemented by a Commission proposal, which would be presented no later than 30 June 1999.These specifications are essentially 50 mg/kg for sulphur in petrol and diesel and 35 % v/v for aromatics in petrol.(e) Fuels with more stringent environmental specifications (Article 6)The Council adapted a slightly more precise text in:- referring to the health of the population in a specific agglomeration and the environment in a specific ecologically sensitiv area in a Member State, and- adopting slightly the specific procedure in this case. In the recitals it clarified the relation of the procedure in this Article with the information procedure in Council Directive 83/189/EEC.(f) Monitoring compliance and reporting (Article 8)The Council adopted a simpler text with a deadline for the establishment of a common format by the Commission.(g) Review process (Article 9)The Council adapted this Article to the introduction of indicative specifications (see (d) above) and referred to a gradual increase in the availability and a balanced distribution of diesel fuel.The Council covered the situation of captive fleets in Article 6 (1) ('all or part of the vehicle fleet`).(h) Committee procedure (Article 11)The Council chose the type IIIB procedure.(i) Transitional measure for Austria (Article 14)In the interest of environment protection, the Council agreed to allow Austria to keep its benzene value also for the year 1999 when the transitional measures referred to in the Act of Accession will expire and the benzene specification under Directive 85/210/EEC (5 % of benzene) would otherwise have applied until 1 January 2000.