Fuel: standardized signage at all gas stations in Europe

What does standard NF EN 16942 recommend?

It provides distributors with a range of color-coded pictograms (black on a white or silver background), a specific font (Arial), shape, size, and symbolism. For example, it specifies a minimum diagonal size of 13 mm, with an outer line thickness of 1.4 points for affixing to the pump nozzle, the vehicle, and the vehicle manual. Thus, for gasoline-type fuels, which have a circled pictogram, the symbolism refers to the maximum ethanol content. SP95 and SP98, which in France contain 5% ethanol in a standard blend, become E5; SP 95-E10 becomes E10. The logic can be applied indefinitely: E85 for flex-fuel vehicles, with E100 expected in the future.

What is changing at gas stations?
It supplements and harmonizes the information provided to motorists, whether they usually fill up in Spain, France, Sweden, or in a country associated with the EU within the European Economic Area (Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, etc.). Please note: the standard applies to the graphic representation of fuel, not its composition. Technical specifications, testing methods, and approval procedures are covered in other standards. The proposed pictograms may coexist with the current names and color codes, opening the door to dual labeling.

Why now?

Because this request to harmonize and better represent information graphically came from a European directive, Directive 2014/94/EU of October 22, 2014, whose transposition decree in France, but above all the resulting orders (signed by the DGCCRF), set a deadline of October 12, 2018. This directive deals exclusively with the deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels. However, in Article 7, it argues that in order to navigate all these new fuels, it is necessary for "Member States to ensure that relevant, consistent, and clear information is available regarding motor vehicles that can be regularly refueled with the various fuels placed on the market or recharged at recharging points." In this case, this information must be available on the corresponding pumps and their nozzles, as well as on the fuel caps or in their immediate vicinity.

Regulatory measure or voluntary measure?

Fuel distributors are required to comply with a simple obligation: to provide clear, relevant, and harmonized information to their customers. They are then free to affix the graphic representations of their choice to their dispensing equipment, while retaining the commercial name of their suppliers (e.g., Excelium). However, the NF EN 16942 standard offers a ready-to-use "kit." What's more, this kit meets the requirements of the European Commission, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the 2014 directive. In August 2015, the Commission asked the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to develop a standard "establishing specifications for harmonized labeling for each fuel placed on the market." At the technical committee No. 441 of this body, which includes the French Petroleum Standards Office, an organization operating on behalf of AFNOR for France and bringing together professionals from the sector, Brussels also requested that "these provisions include a graphic expression including a color code," in the spirit of Article 7 of the directive. So now it's done!

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