Scope:

As part of its Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) programme, the Commission evaluated the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value of the two directives addressing VOC emissions from petrol storage and distribution:

• Directive 94/63/EC on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations (VOC-PVR I Directive); and

• Directive 2009/126/EC on State II petrol vapour recovery during refuelling of motor vehicles at service stations (VOC-PVR-II Directive).

Particular attention was paid to detecting and assessing regulatory burden and identifying opportunities for simplification. Account was also taken of Article 7 of the VOC-PVR II Directive, which requires a review of particular aspects of that Directive.

Evaluation findings:

Both Directives score well on all five evaluation criteria, i.e. they have been found to be effective, efficient, coherent, relevant and having EU added value. The evaluation has shown that both Directives have led to the desired reduction in VOC emissions from petrol storage and distribution. The activities contribute only 0.7% of all anthropogenic VOC emissions in the EU. The costs are largely proportionate to the benefits, in particular when one takes into account the additional non-monetised benefits and the revenue generated from sales of recovered petrol. However, due to the limited amount of available data, it was not possible to conduct a robust cost-benefit analysis. Few, if any problems were experienced during the implementation of the Directives. While a few Member States seem to be delayed with the implementation of some issues, this does not appear to threaten achieving the overall objective.

The directives remain relevant as part of the response to environmental and health threats. They provide a 'safety net' of environmental protection. In their absence, it is likely that national action would have led to divergent regulatory systems hampering the functioning of the single market. The directives also remain relevant in the light of the clean air policy objectives established in the 7th Environment Action Programme and the Clean Air Policy Package.

Given the outcome of the evaluation, and in particular, the small contribution of the activities to the overall VOC emissions problem, changes in the legislative framework do not appear to be justified for the moment. The Commission will continue to cooperate with Member States to assist them in achieving full implementation of the Directives.

The obsolete reporting obligation in Article 9 of Directive 94/63/EC has been removed in the context of the repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC by Decision (EU) 2018/853.