| dc.description.abstract | The specifications for petrol and diesel sold in the European Union are laid down in Directive 98/70/EC. Two sets of fuel specifications are included in the Directive, the first entered into force on 1 January 2000 and the second will enter into force on 1 January 2005. The Directive also stipulates that Member States are required to report summaries of the quality of fuels sold in their territories. For the reporting the format laid out in Commission Decision 2002/159/EC of 18 February 20024 should be applied. Member States were required under the Directive to report for the first time by 30 June 2002 for the preceding calendar year (i.e. 2001). Article 8 of Directive 98/70/EC, as amended by Article 1(5) of Directive 2003/17/EC, requires that the Commission should forward the results of Member States’ fuel quality reporting. According to this Article 8 the Commission shall publish annually, and for the first time by 31 December 2003, a report on the actual fuel quality in the different Member States. In compliance with this request this Commission Report summarises the quality of petrol and diesel, as well as the volumes sold, in the Community for the years 2001 and 2002. The detailed reports can be found on the Commission’s web page5. Additional reporting requirements laid down in Directive 2003/17/EC, e.g. the availability and geographical coverage of fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 10 mg/kg, are not covered by this Commission Report since Member States are not reporting in accordance with this requirement before the transposition of the Directive into national legislation is completed, e.g. at the best by mid 2005, covering then the reporting year 2004. |
