WRITTEN QUESTION E-0657/04 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Misfuelling of motor vehicles.
Date: 2004-03-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: diesel fuel, motor car, motor vehicle industry, petrol, pump, technical regulations

C 84 E/834

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(13 April 2004)

The Honourable Member rightly mentions Article 2 of the Association Agreement as an important

1.
legal basis on which to build dialogue and cooperation in the human rights field.

The Association Agreement which was signed in April 2002 has so far not been ratified and is not in
force. Nonetheless, human rights and democracy form an integral part of the EU’s political dialogue with
all third countries.

2.
Regarding assistance to the Algerian authorities to help them properly and concretely deal with these
issues, MEDA cooperation for the period 2004-2006 focuses on ‘third generation’ programmes, that is
projects that support good governance, and in particular justice, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
and media. This is in line with the 2003 Commission Communication on Human Rights which aims at
maximising the effectiveness of the instruments at the disposal of the EU and its Mediterranean partners in
the field of human rights and democracy. Algeria is also a focus country under the 2003-2004 European
Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. This Programme aims at supporting NGOs through micro
projects directed towards civil society.

Furthermore, pending ratification of the Association Agreement, the Commission has continued to raise
the issue of human rights and in particular that of the ‘disappeared’ and ‘mass graves’ in various fora and
most notably at the last Troïka meeting which took place in Rome in November 2003. In its talks with the
Algerian authorities, the Commission has in particular highlighted the need to grant families’ associations
legal recognition if proper interaction with those directly concerned is to be guaranteed in this process.

It is the Commission’s intention, with active support from the Council, to raise this issue again following
the 8 April 2004 presidential election.

The EU has repeatedly raised with Algeria the issue of the fight against torture as well as cooperation
3.
with the human rights Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations, including the pending request by the
United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on torture, ‘inter alia’ in its speeches before the UN Commission
on Human Rights. The principle of promoting full cooperation by all States with the human rights
mechanisms of the United Nations forms a central part of EU human rights policy.

The Commission will raise the issue of the killing of protesters in Kabylia, in its forthcoming talks with the
Algerian authorities.

Furthermore, the Commission would like to underline the utmost importance it attaches to another human
rights issue, namely the revision of the Family code’s which defines equality between men and women
within the family. This and other issues will be raised in its next meetings with the Algerian authorities.

(2004/C 84 E/0928)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0657/04

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Misfuelling of motor vehicles

Is the Commission aware that hundreds of thousands of drivers across the EU each year inadvertently fill
their vehicles with the wrong fuel, either petrol or diesel?

In the UK alone it is reported that some 120 000 misfuelling incidents take place at filling stations each
year, resulting in costly service bills, damage to vehicles, and potential environmental pollution.

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/835

Possible solutions include altering the shape of fuel tanks and pipe nozzles to ensure that petrol and diesel
systems are entirely separated, clearer markings, and use of audio warnings.

As vehicle manufacturers and fuel suppliers work on an EU-wide basis, will the Commission take the
initiative to bring together interested parties to consider proposals for long-term solutions to the problem,
and will the Commission consider legislative measures if voluntary agreement cannot be secured?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(15 April 2004)

The Commission acknowledges the risk, as identified by the Honourable Member, of mistakes being made
by motorists when re-fuelling their vehicles at filling stations.

The Commission considered this matter in 1991, when the introduction into the market of vehicles
provided with after-treatment systems, such as catalysts, made necessary certain provisions to prevent the
use of leaded petrol in vehicles which should only accept unleaded petrol.

To this end, Council Directive 91/441/EEC of 26 June 1991 relating to measures to be taken against air
pollution by emissions from motor vehicles (1), establishes in its Annex I, that the inlet orifice of the fuel
tank of a car intended to use unleaded petrol must be so designed that it prevents filling with a petrol
pump delivery nozzle designed for leaded petrol.

Since the application of this Directive, petrol pump delivery nozzles with different diameters have been
used to refill petrol cars using unleaded petrol or leaded petrol, and so costly confusion between the fuels
being prevented.

is no longer permitted, this
Though this provision no longer has any relevance since leaded petrol
technical requirement would generally prevent a car running on unleaded petrol from being refuelled with
diesel fuel. However, it would not prevent diesel cars from being refuelled with petrol.

With respect to the possible confusion between unleaded petrol and diesel fuel the Commission will
consult all relevant stakeholders, i.e. vehicle manufacturers and fuel pump equipment manufacturers which
are subject to the Machinery Directive (2), in order to assess all the aspects of the problem and of the
practical implementation of possible solutions of a legislative or non-legislative nature.

(1) OJ L 242, 30.8.1991.
(2) Directive 98/37/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the

Member States relating to machinery, OJ L 207, 23.7.1998.

(2004/C 84 E/0929)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0662/04

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Efforts to adopt uniform and transparent rules on valuing the assets of financial institutions and

the resistance of the EFR to the IASB

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), consisting of 14 prominent

former
1.
industrialists, is currently drafting the uniform rules IAS 32 and IAS 39 for annual reports by businesses
in Europe, as part of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Does the Commission intend
to make these rules compulsory, as from the 2005 financial year, for all of the approximately 7 000 listed
enterprises in Europe, so that
they will be bound by uniform and thus comparable standards for
determining the value of turnover, depreciation, derivatives, options and profits?