CELEX: 51982PC0491
Language: en
Date: 1982-07-29
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON CRUDE OIL SAVING THROUGH THE USE OF SUBSTITUTE FUEL COMPONENTS IN PETROL

No C 229/4                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              2. 9. 82
                                                          II
                                                   (Preparatory Acts)
                                             COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive on crude oil saving through the use of substitute fuel
                                                 components in petrol
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 5 August 1982)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                    Whereas the distribution and combustion of blends as
COMMUNITIES,                                                   defined by this Directive carries no safety, health or
                                                               environmental risks significantly different from those
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   of petrol currently sold for automotive purposes in
European Economic Community, and in particular                 the Community;
Article 235 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,             Whereas the objective of saving crude oil makes it
                                                               desirable that no obstacles are placed in the way of
Having regard to the opinion of the European                   the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of suitable
Parliament,                                                    blends for the propulsion of vehicles powered by
                                                               spark-ignition internal combustion engines;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                              Whereas cross-border traffic requires that motorists
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty, the              are offered compatible fuels for their motor vehicles
Community has as its task to promote throughout the            everywhere in the European Community and
Community a harmonious development of economic                 potential users must be able to distinguish between
activities, a continuous and balanced expansion and            fuels covered by this Directive and others which can
an increase in stability;                                      be used only in specifically designed or adapted
                                                               vehicles;
Whereas in the present energy situation a reduction
in the Community's dependence upon imported crude              Whereas scientific and technical developments may
oil will contribute effectively to the achievement of          make it appropriate to modify the technical annex to
these objectives;                                              the Directive; whereas in order to make such
                                                               modifications a procedure should be set up;
Whereas petrol used for the propulsion of vehicles
powered by spark-ignition internal combustion
engines is an important sector of oil consumption in           Whereas the Treaty does not provide the specific
the Community;                                                 powers necessary for these purposes,
Whereas the use of crude oil to' manufacture petrol
for vehicles propelled by spark-ignition internal
combustion engines can be reduced through blending              HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
hydrocarbon petrol with substitute fuel components;
Whereas these substitute fuel components can be                                        Article 1
produced from raw materials other than crude oil
both inside and outside the Community, thereby                  Member States shall take all such steps as may be
broadening the raw materials base of fuels used for             necessary to ensure that there are no legal or
                                                                administrative obstacles on their respective territories
the propulsion of spark-ignition internal combustion
                                                                to the production, sale, distribution and use of petrol
engines;
                                                                blends containing organic oxygenates as substitute
Whereas the distribution and use of petrol blended              fuel components which are in conformity with the
with substitute fuel components as defined by this              technical annex. Such blended fuels must be usable
Directive, require no, or only minor, modifications to          safely and with similar performance to current petrol
existing petrol distribution        systems and       no        by vehicles propelled by spark-ignition internal
modifications to existing vehicles propelled by spark-          combustion engines currently in use or being offered
ignition internal combustion engines designed to                for sale without requiring any modification to such
operate on petrol;                                              vehicles.
 ---pagebreak--- 2. 9. 82                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                      No C 229/5
                           Article 2                                 shall submit to the Committee a draft of the
                                                                     amendments to be made. The Committee shall give its
For the purposes of the Directive, 'petrol' means any                opinion on the draft within a period set by the the
liquid hydrocarbon mixture suitable for the operation                chairman having regard to the urgency of the matter.
of spark-ignition internal combustion engines.
                                                                     Decisions shall be taken by a majority of 45 votes, the
                                                                     votes of the Member States being weighted as
                           Article 3
                                                                     provided for in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The
Pumps for the sale of motor fuels to the general                     chairman shall not vote.
public dispensing motor fuels not in conformity with
Article 1 shall be clearly marked accordingly.                       2.    The Commission shall adopt the proposed
                                                                     amendments if they are consistent with the opinion of
                           Article 4                                 the Committee. Where the proposed amendments are
                                                                     not consistent with the opinion of the Committee, or
The technical annex may be amended in accordance                     if no opinion is delivered, the Commission may
with the procedure laid down in Articles 5 and 6.                    submit to the Council a proposal on the amendments
                                                                     to be made.
                           Article 5
                                                                     The Council shall decide by a qualified majority. If
1.     A committee on the adaptation of the technical                within three months of the proposal being submitted
annex to scientific and technical developments, here-                to it the Council has not acted, the proposed
inafter called 'the Committee', shall be set up.                     amendments shall be adopted by the Commission.
2.     The Committee shall also be empowered to
examine substitute fuel components not covered by
this Directive but without having recourse to the                                             Article 7
procedure in Article 6.
                                                                     1.    Member States shall bring into force the laws,
3.     The Committee shall consist of representatives                regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
of the Member States,, with a Commission rep-                        comply with this Directive by . . . They shall
resentative as chairman. It shall be convened by the                 forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
chairman, either on his own initiative or at the
request of the repesentative of a Member State.                      2.    Member States shall communicate to the
                                                                     Commission the texts of the provisions of national
4.     The Committee shall adopt its own rules of                    law with they have adopted in the field covered by
procedure.                                                           this Directive.
                           Article 6
                                                                                              Article 8
1.     Where recourse is had to the procedure laid
down in this Article, the Commission representative                  This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                     TECHNICAL ANNEX
               I. Definitions
                  Methanol, ethanol, TBA (tertiary-butyl alcohol), MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), isopropyl
                  alcohol, secondary butyl alcohols and certain other compounds of the following classes, i.e.
                  alcohols and ethers, all boiling below 205° C are currently acceptable organic oxygenates for
                  use as substitute fuel components and/or stabilizing agents for motor fuels. Mixtures of any of
                  the above compounds are also acceptable. The term 'stabilizing agents' in this Directive refers to
                  certain of these substances added to assist in the prevention of phase separation of petrol/sub-
                  stitute fuel component blends.
              II. Composition of blends
                  The blends of petrol and organic oxygenates referred to in Article 1 of this Directive shall
                  contain not more than 10 % by volume of organic oxygenates including methanol and any
                  necessary stabilizing agents. Methanol must not exceed 3 % by volume.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 229/6                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                2.9.82
                The use of components other than those specified in I above as proprietary additives at
                concentrations below 0 • 5 % in total is not affected by this Directive.
           III. Requirements
                Technical specifications for current motor fuels are defined at present in Member States by
                national standards. Petrol blended with organic oxygenates will have to conform not only with
                those standards that apply to the types of fuels that the blends are intended to complement or
                replace, but also with additional specification points relating to certain properties that are
                peculiar to petrol blended with organic oxygenates, as for example, water tolerance,
                hygroscopicity, material compatibility and detrimental impurities including organic acid content,
                copper content, etc., which need to be considered by the appropriate standards organizations.