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: Tenth annual report (Reporting year 2011).

Abstract

This report represents a consolidation of the eleventh year of Member States’ submissions under Directive 98/70/EC1 (the “Directive”), summarising the quality of petrol and diesel in the EU for 2011. Specifications for petrol and diesel sold in the EU are included in the Directive: the first entered into force on 1 January 2000; the second on 1 January 2005 and the third on 1 January 2009 which limited the sulphur content of all automotive road fuels in the EU to 10 ppm. Additional requirements are defined in the European Standard for fuel quality monitoring systems (“FQMS”), EN 14274:2003, required from 2004 under Directive 2003/17/EC. 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). The Directive also stipulates that Member States are required to report summaries of the quality of fuels sold in their territories. The original reporting format for this was laid out in Commission Decision 2002/159/EC of 18 February 20022. The requirements of the Directive have changed with the introduction of new fuel specifications and reporting requirements. All Member States receive an annually updated reporting template in order to ensure inclusion of all pertinent details to enable European wide analysis and comparison of Fuel Quality Monitoring results. This template follows the reporting requirements outlined in Commission Decision 2002/159/EC and is reviewed and agreed annually by the Commission. In 2011, all Member States have complied with the fuel specifications that require road fuels to contain less than 10ppm sulphur content. In addition, Member States have begun to report fuels with added ethanol, which is a mandatory reporting requirement from 1 January 2011 under Directive amendment 2009/30/EC. Two Member States (Poland and Germany) did not submit their report in the template provided. The Netherlands did not use the template in their original submission but transposed it when requested. Of the 27 annual FQMS reports, 21 were received within the reporting deadline of 30 June, 4 were received less than one month late with two reports submitted on time but requiring transposition into the standard template. There is a clear improvement on the submissions of reports received within the deadline compared with 2010 and 2009.