CELEX: 51997PC0271
Language: en
Date: 1997-06-02
Title: Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                         Brussels, 02.06.1997
                                         COM(97) 271 final
                                         96/0163 (COD)
                   Amended proposal for a
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
          relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels
           and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                       of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                   EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1) In June 1996, the Commission adopted a proposal for a European Parliament and Council
   Directive relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive
   93/12/EEC. This proposal formed an integral part of a cost effective strategy for the control of
   atmospheric emissions from road transport as set out in the Communication from the
   Commission to the European Parliament and the Council "On a future strategy for the control of
   atmospheric emissions from road transport taking into account the results of the Auto Oil
   programme" which was adopted at the same time.
   The proposed directive on the quality of petrol and diesel fuels aims at controlling those
   parameters in the composition of petrol and diesel which influence the level of atmospheric
   emissions produced by spark ignition and diesel vehicles. Harmonized specifications for petrol
   and diesel fuels are therefore proposed to take effect across the Community as from 1 January
   2000. The sale of leaded petrol is also to be banned as from the same date. The proposal also
    foresees the possibility for Member States to mandate the use of special, high quality fuels in
   agglomerations or zones where there is a particularly severe problem of air pollution affecting
    the population or the environment.
2)  The Economic and Social Committee adopted its opinion on 24.4.97. The Economic and Social
    Committee was broadly supportive of the Commission proposal.
                                                            r
3)  At its plenary session on 10 April 1997, the European Parliament approved the proposal from
    the Commission with a total of 54 amendments.
4)  Out of the 54 amendments approved by the Parliament, the Commission can accept 7 in their
   entirety (nos. 2, 3, 6, 22, 23, 37 and 38) and 4 partially {nos. 1 (second part), 8 (third part), 10
   (first part), 31 (first part)}. Accordingly the present modified proposal contains amendments to
   Articles 7 and 9 as well as several new recitals. With regard to amendments 63 and 64 which
   concern the modification of the proposed fuel specifications to allow for arctic conditions, the
   Commission cannot accept these amendments as proposed, in particular amendment 64 which
    refers to volatility classes in diesel fuels does not appear to be relevant. However, the
   Commission does undertake to explore this issue further to ensure that its proposals will not
    resuit in technical problems for vehicles operating in arctic conditions.
    Amendment 53 as adopted by the 'Parliament is an exact repetition of the Commission's
   original text and is accordingly not incorporated in the modified proposal.
5)  40 amendments have not been accepted (nos. 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,
    24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 60, 61,
    62).
    The Commission proposal is based on Article 100A of the Treaty which has as its primary
    objective the establishment of the internal market. It is not therefore appropriate to refer to the
    standards put forward in the directive as being minimum standards. Amendments 8 (first part),
     14, 15, 17 and 24 are therefore not acceptable.
    The Community framework for the application of fiscal incentives for the encouragement of the
    marketing of "clean" fuels is established under Directive 92/81/EEC. The Commission does not
 ---pagebreak---  consider it appropriate to set up a separate fiscal framework under the present directive and
 accordingly cannot accept amendments 12,13,19 and 27.
 The Commission considers that the conditions under which Committees should be consulted
 and the working procedures of such Committees are horizontal issues which should not be dealt
 with in an ad-hoc manner in relation to specific legislative proposals. Accordingly, the
 Commission cannot accept amendments 28, 29, 30, 31(second part), 32, 33 and 39.
 The Commission's proposals for fuel standards to enter into force in 2000 were based upon an
 extensive assessment of the cost effectiveness of a range of measures which could contribute to
 reduced vehicle emissions. The Commission considers that its proposals on fuel form part of a
cost effective package of measures and that it is not therefore necessary to increase the severity
of the fuel specifications to enter into force in 2000 in order to achieve satisfactory air quality
standards by 2010. The Commission cannot therefore accept amendments 40, 4L 42, 43, 45 and
47. On the other hand the Commission believes that fuel standards should be introduced at the
latest by 2000 in order to contribute towards reducing vehicle emissions. The Commission
cannot therefore accept the possibility of a 5 year delay in introducing these measures:
amendments 61 and 62 are therefore unacceptable to the Commission.
With regard to the proposed standard for the maximum level of oxygenates in petrol (2.3%)
included in its proposal, the Commission considers that there is evidence that to increase the
maximum level may result in increased levels of pollution by toxic substances such as
aldehydes. The Commission cannot therefore accept amendments \ \ and 46.
The Commission considers that fuel standards for 2005 can only be finalised on the basis of
further scientific and technical assessments. In the absence of such further assessments the
laying down of mandatory fuel standards for 2005 is premature. For this reason the
Commission cannot accept amendments 4, 16, 20, 21, 26, 34, 44,48, 49, 50 and 51.
The Commission proposal is part of a balanced package of measures to reduce emissions from
road vehicles to a level compatible with the attainment of satisfactory air quality standards by
the year 2010. The Commission proposal will result in a significant improvement of the average
fuel quality sold in the Community. The Commission cannot therefore accept amendments 5,
 10 (second part) and 18.
The Commission's proposals are based on the principle of cost effectiveness as required under
Article 4 of Directive 94/12/EC. The Commission cannot therefore accept that the proposals
should instead have been based on the principle of cost benefit. Amendments 8 (second part) 9,
36 and 60 are therefore not acceptable.
 ---pagebreak---                                               Amended proposal for a
                         EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
                                     relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels
                                        and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC
                   Original proposal( i )                               Modified proposal
                                                   Recital
 Whereas disparity between the laws or                       Whereas disparity between the laws or
 administrative measures adopted by the                      administrative measures adopted by the
 Member        States on       specifications    of          Member       States on specifications          of
 conventional and alternative fuels used by                  conventional and alternative fuels used by
 spark-ignited and diesel vehicles creates                   spark-ignited and diesel vehicles creates
 barriers to trade in the Community and may                  barriers to trade in the Community and may
thereby have a direct impact on the                          thereby have a direct impact on. the
 establishment and functioning of the internal               establishment and functioning of the internal
 market; whereas in accordance with the                      market and on the international competitiveness
 provisions of Article 3b of the Treaty, it                  of the European vehicle and refining industries:
therefore appears necessary to approximate the               whereas in accordance with the provisions of
 laws in this field;                                         Article 3b of the Treaty, it therefore appears
                                                             necessary to approximate the laws in this field;
                                                   Recital 2
 Whereas Article 100a(3) of the Treaty                       Whereas Article 100a(3) of the Treaty
envisages that Commission proposals aimed at                envisages that Commission proposals aimed at
the establishment and functioning of the                    the establishment and functioning of the
internal market and concerning environmental                 internal market and concerning health and
protection will take as a base a high level of              environmental protection will take as a base a
protection:                                                 high level of protection:
                                                   Recital 3
Whereas primary air pollutants such as nitrogen             Whereas primary air pollutants such as nitrogen
oxides, unburnt hydrocarbons and particulate                oxides, unburnt hydrocarbons, particulate
matter are emitted in significant amounts                   m arte, carbon monoxide, benzenes and other
through the exhaust and evaporative fumes of                toxic exhaust emissions and their secondary
motor vehicles thereby posing directly and                  pollutants such as ozone are emitted in
indirectly through the development of the                   significant amounts through the exhaust and
secondary pollutant ozone, a considerable risk              evaporative fumes of motor vehicles thereby
to human health and the environment;                        posing directly and indirectly a considerable
                                                            risk to human health and the environment;
    (i)
        OJC77, 11.3.1997, p. 1
 ---pagebreak---                                                    Recital 6
Whereas the European Auto/Oil Programme,                     Whereas the European Auto/Oil Programme,
the details of which are outlined in the                     the details of which are outlined in the
Commission's Communication on a future                       Commission's Communication on a future
strategy for the control of atmospheric                      strategy for the control of atmospheric
emissions from road transport, provides the                  emissions from road transport, contributes
scientific, technical and economic basis for the             towards a scientific, technical and economic
 introduction at Community level of new                      basis for recommending the introduction at
environmental fuel specifications for petrol and             Community level of new environmental fuel
diesel fuels;                                                specifications for petrol and diesel fuels;
                                                    Recital 7
Whereas the introduction of environmental                    Whereas the introduction of environmental
 fuels specifications for petrol and diesel fuels is         fuels specifications for petrol and diesel fuels is
an important element of the cost-effective                   an important element of the cost-effective
 package of European-wide and national/                      package of European-wide and national/
 regional/local measures identified by the                   regional/local measures that should be put into
 European Auto/Oil Programme:                                effect:
                                                Recital 8a (new)
                                                              Whereas it is necessary to obtain in the short
                                                              term a reduction, in urban areas, oï 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:
                                               Recital 15b (new)
                                                              Whereas captive vehicle fleets exist (buses,
                                                              taxis, commercial vehicles, etc.) which arc
                                                              responsible for a large proportion of urban
                                                              pollution and would benefit from separate
                                                               specifications:
                                               Recital 15c (new)
                                                               Whereas the Commission should propose
                                                               specifications applicable to LPG. natural gas
                                                               vehicle fuel and biofuels in the context ol' I he
                                                               Auto/Oil 2 process:
 ---pagebreak---                                          Article 7, first paragraph
If a sudden change in the supply of crude oils or           IfT as a result of exceptional events, a sudden
petroleum products renders it difficult for the             change in the supply of crude oils or petroleum
refineries in a Member State to respect the fuel            products renders it difficult for the refineries in
specification requirements of Articles 3 and 4,             a Member State to respect the fuel specification
that    Member     State shall      inform     the          requirements of Articles 3 and 4, that Member
Commission thereof. The Commission, after                   State shall inform the Commission thereof. The
informing the Member States, may authorize                  Commission, after informing the Member
higher limit values in that Member State for                 States, may authorize higher limit values in that
one or more fuel components ibr a period not                 Member State for one or more fuel components
exceeding six months.                                        for a period not exceeding six months.
                                         Article 9(2) (new indent)
                                                              - the particular situation of captive fleets and
                                                                 the need to propose levels of specifications
                                                                  for the special fuels they use:
                                         Article 9(2) (new indent)
                                                                the need to propose levels of specifications
                                                                  applicable to LPG. natural gas vehicle fuel
                                                                  and bjofuels.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(97) 271 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                       07 12
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-256-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-20703-9
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