Directive 2009/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and introducing a mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC.

This Directive updates the provisions under Directive 98/70/EC concerning the quality of petrol and diesel fuels. Firstly it widens the application scope of that Directive, which shall include: (a) technical specifications on health and environmental grounds for fuels to be used with positive ignition and compression-ignition engines, taking account of the technical requirements of those engines; and (b) a target for the reduction of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. These specifications and target shall apply to road vehicles and non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels when not at sea), agricultural and forestry tractors, as well as recreational craft when not at sea. Further amendments concern sustainability criteria for diesel fuels and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.