REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union (Reporting year 2018)
Date: 2020-11-19
Institutions: Directorate-General for Climate Action, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, air quality, diesel fuel, environmental standard, marketing standard, petrol, quality standard, road transport, sampling

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 19.11.2020  COM(2020) 742 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union    (Reporting year 2018)  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union 
(Reporting year 2018) 

INTRODUCTION 

1. 
Pursuant to Article 7a of Directive 98/70/EC1 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels 
(henceforth the "Fuel Quality Directive") and Article 5 of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 
laying down calculation methods and reporting requirements pursuant to Directive 98/70/EC2, 
Member States are required to report annually on the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of fuels 
and energy supplied in their territories. This reporting obligation applied for the first time for 
the reporting year 2017, following the application and transposition of Council Directive (EU) 
2015/652. This annual report comprises the data reported for the year 2018. 

Furthermore,  pursuant  to  Article  8(3)  of  Directive  98/70/EC  Member  States  are  required  to 
report on national fuel quality data for the preceding calendar year.  

This annual report summarises the information provided by Member States in relation to the 
above-mentioned reporting requirements. It is based on the data submitted by Member States 
to the European Environment Agency (EEA) for the year 2018. 

2. 

VOLUMES  AND  LIFE  CYCLE  GREENHOUSE  GAS  INTENSITY  OF  FUEL  AND  ENERGY 
TYPES 

Article  7a  of  the  Fuel  Quality  Directive,  in  conjunction  with  the  Council  Directive  (EU) 
2015/652, sets out reporting requirements concerning the following: 

 

 

 

the  total  volume  of  each  type  of  fuel  or  energy supplied  for  road transport  and  non-
road  mobile  machinery  (including  inland  waterway  vessels  when  not  at  sea), 
agricultural and forestry tractors, and recreational craft when not at sea; 

the  life  cycle  GHG  emissions  per  unit  of  energy,  including  the  provisional  mean 
values of the estimated indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions from biofuels3;  
the  feedstock  and  the  biofuel  production  pathway  used  for  each  of  the  biofuels 
supplied on the territories of Member States. 

The Fuel Quality Directive obliges Member States to require fuel suppliers to reduce the life 
cycle GHG intensity of transport fuels, i.e. the life cycle GHG emissions per unit of energy 
from fuel and energy supplied, by a minimum of 6 % by 31 December 2020 compared with 
the fuel baseline standard for 2010 of 94,1 gCO2eq/MJ4. ILUC GHG emissions are not taken 
into account in assessing compliance with the minimum 6% reduction target. 

1 Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the quality of petrol and diesel 
fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC, OJ L 350 of 28.12.1998, p. 58. 
2  Council  Directive  (EU)  2015/652  of  20  April  2015  laying  down  calculation  methods  and  reporting 
requirements  pursuant  to  Directive  98/70/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  relating  to  the 
quality of petrol and diesel fuels, OJ L 107 of 25.4.2015, p. 26. 
3  Directive  (EU)  2015/1513  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  9  September  2015  amending 
Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the 
promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, OJ L239 of 15.9.2015, p. 8. 
4  Council  Directive  (EU)  2015/652  of  20  April  2015  laying  down  calculation  methods  and  reporting 
requirements  pursuant  to  Directive  98/70/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  relating  to  the 
quality of petrol and diesel fuels, OJ L 107 of 25.4.2015, p. 26. 

1 

 
 
                                                            
In  year  2018,  all  28  Member  States  (as  well  as  Norway  and  Iceland)  provided  data  on 
greenhouse gas emmission reductions in the appropriate format. 

2.1  Greenhouse gas emissions and distance to 2020 target 

According to the data provided, the average GHG intensity of the fuels and energy supplied in 
the 28 reporting Member States in 2018 was 90.6 gCO2eq/MJ, which is 3.7 % lower than the 
2010  baseline  of  94,1  gCO2eq/MJ.  This  corresponds  to  a  saving  of  51 Mt  carbon  dioxide 
equivalent  (CO2eq)  during  the  year  2018.  The  progress  achieved  by  fuel  suppliers  has  been 
limited between the years 2017 and 2018 with an improvement of 0.3 percentage point of the 
reported average GHG intensity of the fuels. 

Reported  data  for  2018  confirms  that  EU  fuel  suppliers  in  the  28  reporting  Member  States 
were  on  average  behind  their  objective  of  reducing  the  GHG  intensity  of  transport  fuels  by 
6 % by 2020, compared with 2010 (see Figure 1). It is to be noted that in 2018 no upstream 
emission reductions (UER)5 were reported. These are expected to contribute to the reduction 
target in the year 2020. 

Furthermore,  progress  varies  greatly  across  Member  States.  In  23  Member  States,  the 
reductions in 2018 still remain lower than the optional intermediate target of 4% that Member 
States  could  require  fuel  suppliers  to  comply  with  already  for  the  year  2017.  Sweden  and 
Finland  are  the  only  Member  States  having  already  exceeded  the  6 %  reduction  target  for 
2020  (further  information  can  be  found  in  the  EEA  Technical  Report  No  2/2020  on 
‘Greenhouse  gas  intensities  of  transport  fuels  in  the  EU  in  2018).  Therefore,  almost  all 
Member States need to take swiftly further action to ensure that the 2020 target is met. 

20%

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

a
i
r
t
s
u
A

i

m
u
g
e
B

l

a
i
r
a
g
u
B

l

a
i
t
a
o
r
C

s
u
r
p
y
C

i

a
h
c
e
z
C

k
r
a
m
n
e
D

i

a
n
o
t
s
E

d
n
a
n
i
F

l

e
c
n
a
r
F

y
n
a
m
r
e
G

e
c
e
e
r
G

y
r
a
g
n
u
H

d
n
a
e
r
I

l

y
l
a
t
I

a
i
v
t
a
L

i

a
n
a
u
h
t
i
L

g
r
u
o
b
m
e
x
u
L

a
t
l
a
M

s
d
n
a
l
r
e
h
t
e
N

d
n
a
o
P

l

l

a
g
u
t
r
o
P

i

a
n
a
m
o
R

a
i
k
a
v
o
l
S

i

a
n
e
v
o
l
S

i

n
a
p
S

n
e
d
e
w
S

K
U

8
2
U
E

7
2
U
E

2010-2018 GHG intensity reduction (excl. ILUC)

2020 target

Indicative 2017 intermediate target

Figure 1: Reductions in GHG intensity of fuels achieved by EU fuel suppliers in Member 
States, 2010-2018 (Source: EEA) 

5  ‘Upstream  emissions’  means  all  greenhouse  gas  emissions  occurring  prior  to  the  raw  material  entering  a 
refinery or a processing plant where the fuel is produced. 

2 

 
 
 
                                                            
Taking  ILUC  emissions  into  account6,  the  average  GHG  intensity  of  the  fuels  consumed  in 
2018 was 2.1 % lower than in 2010. This corresponds to a saving of 29 Mt CO2eq during the 
year  2018.  ILUC  emissions  are  not  taken  into  account  in  assessing  compliance  with  the 
minimum 6% reduction target. 

2.2 

Fuel supply 

This  section  provides  the  data  submitted  by  Member  States  on  all  fossil  fuels,  biofuels  and 
fuels of non-biological origin within the scope of the Fuel Quality Directive for road transport 
and non-road mobile machinery. 

Total fuel supply reported was 14 028 petajoules (PJ), of which 94.8 % was from fossil fuels, 
and  5.2 %  was  from  biofuels.  No  renewable  fuels  of  non-biological  origin  were  reported  in 
2018. 

The fossil fuel supply in 2018 was dominated by diesel (59.8 %; 8 386 PJ), followed by petrol 
(23.3 %;  3 271  PJ)  and  gas  oil  (9.7 %;  1  363  PJ).  Liquefied  petroleum  gas  and  compressed 
natural gas had a total share of 2 % (275 PJ) (see Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Fuel energy supply shares per fuel type in 2018 (Source: EEA) 

2.3 

Biofuel consumption 

The  biofuel  consumption  in  the  28  Member  States  continues  to  be  dominated  by  biodiesel 
(fatty acid methyl ester, FAME) (68.9 % of the total biofuel consumption; 504 PJ), followed 
by  bioethanol  (15.1 %;  111  PJ)  and  hydrotreated  vegetable  oil  (HVO;  13.1 %;  93  PJ).  Bio-
ethyl  tert-butyl  ether  (bio-ETBE)  and  biogas  account  for  almost  0.1 %  of  the  total  biofuel 
consumption (18 PJ). All other biofuels represented a much smaller share (see Figure 3).  

Detailed information for all biofuels and pathways can be found in the EEA Technical Report 
No 2/2020 on ‘Greenhouse gas intensities of transport fuels in the EU in 2018. 

6 For this calculation, the provisional estimated indirect land-use change emissions from biofuels were taken into 
account as listed in Annex V of the Fuel Quality Directive. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Bio-ETBE 
1,2% 

Bioethanol 
15,1% 

Biogas 
1,2% 

Other 
biofuel 
0,8% 

Hydrotreated 
vegetable oil 
HVO 
12,7% 

Biodiesel 
68,9% 

Figure 3: Biofuel energy supply shares per fuel type in 2018 (Source: EEA) 

2.4 

Electricity consumption 

The  reporting  of  electricity  consumption  by  fuel  suppliers  is  voluntary  and  ten  Member 
States, compared to seven in 2017, reported data on electricity consumed by electric vehicles 
and motorcycles (see Table 1). 

Member State 

Quantity of energy 
excluding powertrain 
efficiency (GJ) 

Quantity of energy 
including powertrain 
efficiency (GJ) 

GHG intensity 
reported by Member 
State (g CO2e/MJ) 

GHG intensity 
reported by Member 
State (g CO2e/kWh) 

Bulgaria 

France 

Germany 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Portugal 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Sweden 

189 652 

1 122 448 

774 000 

1 444 681 

236 081 

19 224 

1 407 

318 

52 

75 861 

448 979 

309 600 

577 872 

94 432 

7 690 

563 

127 

21 

United Kingdom 

867 996 

347 198 

- 

20.4 

153 

110.3 

165 

74.7 

46.4 

- 

169.2 

85.3 

- 

73 

551 

397 

594 

269 

167 

- 

609 

307 

Table 1: Electricity consumed by electric vehicles and motorcycles in 2018 as a reported 
contribution by fuel suppliers to their GHG reduction target (Source: EEA) 

3. 

OVERVIEW OF THE 2018 FUEL QUALITY DATA IN THE EU 

According to Article 8 of the Fuel Quality Directive, all Member States, as well as Iceland, 
submitted reports on national fuel quality data for the year 2018.  

This  section  provides  the  data  for  petrol  and  diesel  sales,  and  the  bio-components  included 
therein,  for  road  transport  reported  by  all  EU  Member  States.  It  excludes  other  fossil  fuels, 
other  biofuels  and  fuels  of  non-biological  origin,  as  well  as  fuels  used  for  non-road  mobile 
machinery.  

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1 

Petrol and diesel and biocomponent content  

Diesel continues to dominate fuel sales in the EU: 72.3 % of fuel sold in 2018 was diesel and 
27.7 % was petrol, as in 2017 (see Table 2).  

2017 

2018 

Diesel fuel sales 

270 668 (72.3%) 

271 018 (72.3%) 

Petrol fuel sales 

103 766 (27.7%) 

103 856 (27.7%) 

Table 2: Diesel and petrol fuel sales (in million litres and their respective shares) in 2017 
and 2018. 

The share of diesel as compared with petrol sales has increased over the years, from 55.6 % of 
total  sales  in  2001  to  72.3 %  in  2018.  This  reflects  to  a  large  degree  the  increasing 
dieselisation of Europe’s vehicle fleet during that period.  

Diesel  fuel  consumption  is  dominant  in  most  EU  Member  States  (representing  more  than 
60 % of total fuel sales) except for Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands.  

The  majority  of  petrol  sales  in  2018  comprised  fuels  with  a  petrol  grade  research  octane 
number (RON) of 95, the share of which slightly decreased compared to 2017. The share of 
95 ≤ RON < 98 sales increased, while the share of RON ≥ 98 sales decreased since 2017 (see 
Table 3). 

RON 95 

95 ≤ RON < 98 

RON ≥ 98 

RON = 91 

2017 

85.7% 

8.3% 

5.8% 

0.1% 

2018 

82% 

13.7% 

4.2% 

0.1% 

Table 3: Share of petrol sales according to RON numbers 

All diesel sold in the EU is marketed as containing biodiesel, whereas nearly 96 % of petrol is 
marketed  as  containing  bioethanol.  In  2018,  84.3 %  of  petrol  fuel  sold  in  the  EU  had  up  to 
5 % ethanol content by volume, and 11.4% had up to 10 % ethanol content. Of the diesel fuel 
sold, 99.2 % contained up to 7 % FAME and 0.8 % contained more. 

3.2 

Compliance of sold fuels with quality limits 

Overall  in  the  EU,  a  high  compliance  with  the  quality  limits  is  observed.  The  very  large 
majority  of  key  fuel  parameters  in  the  samples  taken  in  2018  were  reported  within  the 
tolerance limits. 

Lithuania,  Slovenia  and  Sweden  verified  and  reported  full  compliance  for  both  petrol  and 
diesel  fuels.  Six  Member  States  verified  and  reported  full  compliance  for  petrol  (Bulgaria, 
Greece,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Slovenia  and  Sweden),  and  twelve  for  diesel  (Austria,  Croatia, 
Greece,  Finland,  Germany,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Romania,  Slovenia  and 
Sweden).  One  Member  State  (Belgium)  reported  more  than  100  non-compliances  for  petrol 
and 30 for diesel in 2018, yet this represents a small fraction of the overall number of samples 
taken in Belgium. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Member States reported a total of 410 cases of non-compliance for petrol and 114 for diesel 
for  2018.  For  petrol,  the  most  common  parameters  falling  outside  the  specifications  were 
summer vapour pressure (in nineteen Member States), research octane number (RON) (in ten 
Member States), motor octane number (MON) (in eight Member States) and sulphur content 
(in  five  Member  States).  For  diesel,  the  most  common  parameters  falling  outside  the 
specifications were the FAME content (in seven Member States) and the sulphur content (in 
eight Member States). 

All Member States described the actions taken when non-compliant samples were identified. 
These  included  informing  the  competent  authorities,  initiating  investigations,  imposing 
penalties  and  fines,  and  resampling.  In  a  small  number  of  cases,  no  action  has  been  taken 
where the non-compliant parameters were found to be very close to the tolerance limits. 

There was therefore no need for the Commission to launch any new investigation in this area. 

6