CELEX: 51999PC0066
Language: en
Date: 1999-02-11
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars

25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                               C 83/1
                                                             II
                                                    (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
              Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the availability of consumer information on
             fuel economy and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in respect of the marketing of new
                                                     passenger cars (1)
                                                      (1999/C 83/01)
                                                 (Text with EEA relevance)
                                         COM(1999) 66 final Ð 98/0272 (SYN)
                   (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC-Treaty on
                                                   11 February 1999)
             (1) OJ C 305, 3.10.1998, p. 2.
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                           Title
Proposal for a Council Directive relating to the                 Proposal for a Council Directive relating to the
availability of consumer information on fuel economy             availability of consumer information on fuel economy
in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars                and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in respect of
                                                                 the marketing of new passenger cars
                                                         Recital 6
whereas information plays a key role in the operation            whereas information plays a key role in the operation
of market forces and the provision of accurate,                  of market forces and the provision of accurate,
relevant and comparable information on the specific              relevant and comparable information on the specific
fuel consumption of passenger cars may influence                 fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of passenger cars
consumer choice in favour of those cars which use less           may influence consumer choice in favour of those cars
fuel and thereby emit less CO2, thus prompting                   which use less fuel and thereby emit less CO2, thus
manufacturers to take steps to reduce the fuel                   prompting manufacturers to take steps to reduce the
consumption of the cars that they manufacture;                   fuel consumption of the cars that they manufacture;
                                                         Article 1
The purpose of this Directive is to ensure that                  The purpose of this Directive is to ensure that
information relating to the fuel economy of new                  information relating to the fuel economy and CO2
passenger cars offered for sale or lease in the                  emissions of new passenger cars offered for sale or
Community is made available to consumers.                        lease in the Community is made available to
                                                                 consumers.
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/2             EN              Official Journal of the European Communities                              25.3.1999
                   ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                     Article 2 (5)
point of sale' means a location, such as a car                point of sale' means any location where new
showroom or forecourt, where passenger cars are                passenger cars are displayed to potential customers
displayed and offered for sale or lease to potential           with a view to promoting their sale or leasing;
customers;
                                                       Article 5
The Member States shall ensure that a fuel economy             The Member States shall ensure that a fuel economy
guide is produced at least on an annual basis in               guide is produced at least on an annual basis in
accordance with the requirements of Annex II.                  accordance with the requirements of Annex II.
The guide shall be compact, portable and be available          The guide shall be compact, portable and be available
free of charge to consumers upon request both at the           free of charge to concumers upon request both at the
point of sale and also from a designated body within           point of sale and also from a designated body within
each Member State. The Member State shall also                 each Member State. The Member State shall also
ensure that the guide is available through electronic          ensure that the guide is available through electronic
means, such as the Internet, and that this form of the         means, such as the Internet. Any electronic version of
guide is kept up-to-date with changes in the range of          the guide shall be kept up-to-date with changes in the
new passenger car versions available for purchase in           range of new passenger car versions available for
the Member State.                                              purchase in the Member State.
                                                      Article 10
Any amendments which are necessary in order to                 Any amendments which are necessary in order to
adapt the Annexes to this Directive to take account of         adapt the Annexes to this Directive to take account of
progress shall be adopted by the Commission in                 progress shall be adopted by the Commission in
accordance with the procedure set out in Article 11            accordance with the procedure set out in Article 11
and     following    consultation    with     consumer         and     following     consultation    with    consumer
organisations and other interested parties.                    organisations and other interested parties.
In order to assist this adaptation process, five years         In order to assist this adaptation process, three years
after this Directive has entered into force each               after this Directive has entered into force each
Member State shall transmit to the Commission a                Member State shall transmit to the Commission a
report on the effectiveness of the provisions of this          report on the effectiveness and application of this
Directive.                                                     Directive, and in particular the application of the
                                                               Annexes. On the basis of these reports the
                                                               Commission shall also assess whether there is a need
                                                               for further harmonisation, and if appropriate shall
                                                               present proposals to amend this directive.
                                                               Furthermore, the Commission shall, in accordance
                                                               with the procedure laid down in Article 11, take
                                                               measures aiming at the creation of categories of
                                                               passenger cars.
                                                     Annex I (4)
contain the numerical value of the official fuel               contain the numerical value of the official fuel
consumption and the official specific emissions of             consumption and the official specific emissions of CO2
CO2. The value of the official fuel consumption shall          for the urban cycle, the extra urban cycle and the
be expressed in either litres per 100 kilometers               combined cycle. The value of the official fuel
(l/100 km), miles per gallon (mpg), kilometres per litre       consumption shall be expressed in either litres per 100
(km/l), or an appropriate combination of these and be          kilometers (l/100 km), miles per gallon (mpg),
quoted to one decimal place. The official specific             kilometres per litre (km/l), or an appropriate
emissions of CO2 are to be quoted to the nearest               combination of these and be quoted to one decimal
whole number in grams per kilometre (g/km).                    place. The official specific emissions of CO2 are to be
                                                               quoted to the nearest whole number in grams per
                                                               kilometre (g/km).
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 83/3
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                              AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                       Annex I (7)
In addition to the fuel efficiency of a car, driving            In addition to the fuel efficiency of a car, driving
behaviour as well as other non-technical factors play a         behaviour as well as other non-technical factors play a
role in determining a car's fuel economy and CO2                role in determining a car's fuel economy and CO2
emissions. CO2 is the main greenhouse gas responsible           emissions. CO2 is the main greenhouse gas responsible
for global warming.                                             for global warming. Extra equipment such as air
                                                                conditioning and pre-heating systems may increase
                                                                fuel consumption substantially.
                                                       Annex II (1)
The numerical value of the official fuel consumption            The numerical value of the official fuel consumption
and the official specific emissions of CO2. The value           and the official specific emissions of CO2 for the
of the official fuel consumption shall be expressed in          urban cycle, the extra urban cycle and the combined
either litres per 100 kilometres (l/100 km), miles per          cycle as well as the fuel type shall be indicated. The
gallon (mpg), kilometres per litre (km/l) or an                 value of the official fuel consumption shall be
appropriate combination of these and be quoted to               expressed in either litres per 100 kilometres (l/100 km),
one decimal place. The official specific emissions of           miles per gallon (mpg), kilometres per litre (km/l) or
CO2 are to be quoted to the nearest whole number in             an appropriate combination of these and be quoted to
grams per kilometre (g/km).                                     one decimal place. The official specific emissions of
                                                                CO2 are to be quoted to the nearest whole number in
                                                                grams per kilometre (g/km).
                                                    Annex II (4a) (new)
                                                                The fuel economy guide shall also include detailed
                                                                information on how fuel consumption is increased by
                                                                extra equipment such as air conditioning and
                                                                pre-heating systems.
                                                    Annex II (6) (new)
                                                                A reference to the updated version on the Internet or
                                                                in any other electronic format.
                                                       Annex III (3)
New car versions must be grouped and listed                     New car versions must be grouped and listed
separately according to fuel type (petrol or diesel). For       separately according to fuel type (petrol, diesel). For
each car in the list the make, variant, version, official       each version in the list, the make, type, the fuel type,
CO2 emissions, official fuel consumption and fuel cost          the numerical value of the official fuel consumption
associated with 10 000 kilometres or 6 000 miles shall          and the official specific emissions of CO2 for the
be included for the particular vehicle in question.             urban cycle, the extra urban cycle and the combined
Within each fuel type, versions are to be ranked in             cycle and the fuel cost associated with 10 000
order of increasing CO2 emissions, with the most fuel           kilometres or 6 000 miles, based on the combined
efficient vehicle being placed at the top of the list.          cycle, shall be given. Within each fuel type, versions
                                                                are to be ranked in order of increasing CO2 emissions,
                                                                based on the value for the combined cycle, with the
                                                                most fuel efficient vehicle being placed at the top of
                                                                the list.