Deal struck by Presidency will lead to fuel savings and reduced pollution
Service stations in the European Union will be equipped with devices that will recover petrol vapours escaping from the tank when the car, van or motorcycle is refuelled. This will result in petrol savings and cleaner environment.
This is thanks to a deal reached between the Czech Presidency and the EU institutions. In the past weeks, Czech diplomats and MEPs brokered a compromise, which was given the green light by Member State representatives on Wednesday 22 April. The European Parliament will confirm the deal in the plenary at the beginning of May and Member State Ministers will then give it the final seal of approval.
The new piece of legislation will benefit citizens and companies alike. “Vapour recuperation systems will not only improve the protection of environment and of public health, but also save petrol,” said Jana Reinišová, Deputy Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU and head of the team that reached the agreement with the EU institutions.
Whenever a vehicle is refuelled, petrol-saturated vapours are forced out of the fuel tank. These vapours contain volatile organic compounds that are harmful to human health as well as the environment since they are carcinogenic and contribute to the creation of ground level ozone. Petrol contained in the escaping vapours can also be condensed and reused.
Under the new rule, petrol pumps will be fitted with a device that will capture at least 85 % of vapours and transfer them to the storage tank at the site. This technology will save fuel from evaporating into the atmosphere and service station operators will in time see a return on their initial investments.
Petrol vapour recovery systems, currently being introduced by several European countries, will become compulsory at new or renovated service stations with great throughput in the whole of the EU as of 1 January 2012. All service stations will be obliged to install these systems by 31 December 2018 at the latest. Small service stations attending to only a few cars a day will be exempt from this rule. The Member States will draw drivers’ attention to the recovery systems by appropriate labelling of petrol pumps.
According to Commission data, the EU numbers about 110,000 service stations that employ some 440,000 workers and have an annual turnover of some 250 billion euros.
Additional information:
The Proposal for a Directive on Stage II petrol vapour recovery during refuelling of passenger cars at service stations (COM(2008) 812) was submitted by the European Commission in December 2008. Stage I, already in force, is aimed at the recovery of petrol vapour emitted during the unloading of fuel into storage tanks at service stations. It was introduced by a directive in 1994 (94/63/EC).
The compromise wording of the new rule, brokered by the Czech Presidency, was approved by the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament on 31 March 2009 and afterwards by the Member States at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper I) on 22 April 2009. The European Parliament will reaffirm the compromise by a vote in the plenary in early May. The whole process will be rounded off by the Member State Ministers at one of the following Council meetings.
Contacts:
- Radek Honzák, spokesperson of Coreper I, Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU,tel.: +32 2 2139 245, mobile: +32 475 734 018; e-mail: radek_honzak@mzv.cz
- Jakub Kašpar, spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, tel.: +420 267 122 040, mobile: +420 724 175 927; e-mail: jakub.kaspar@mzp.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:30
