A conciliation agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council on 10 December opens the way for the introduction of cleaner fuels for vehicles from 2005.
The directive will cut air pollution and will also speed up the introduction of advanced engine technologies with improved fuel-efficiency.
In December 2001, the Council agreed with the proposed date of introduction of 2005 but decided to speed up the mandatory use of sulphur-free fuels from 2011 to 2009. On the other hand, the environment ministers decided against the introduction of these rules for non-road vehicles such as farm tractors.
During the second reading of the proposed draft directive on the quality of petrol and diesel fuels on 26 September, the Parliament had insisted that the new standards should apply not only to ordinary road vehicles but also to non-road mobile vehicles such as agricultural and forestry tractors.
