(1)

Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) laid down a framework for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. The Commission Communication of 9 December 2020 entitled ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future’ points to the uneven development of recharging and refuelling infrastructure across the Union and the lack of interoperability and user friendliness. It notes that the absence of a clear common methodology for setting targets and adopting measures under the national policy frameworks required by Directive 2014/94/EU has led to a situation whereby the level of ambition in target setting and supporting policies differs greatly among Member States. Those differences have hindered the establishment of a comprehensive and complete network of alternative fuels infrastructure across the Union.

(2)

Union law already set targets for renewable fuels. For example, Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) sets a market share target of 14 % of renewables in transport fuels.

(3)

Regulations (EU) 2019/631 (6) and (EU) 2019/1242 (7) of the European Parliament and of the Council already set CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and for new light-duty vehicles, as well as for certain new heavy-duty vehicles. Those Regulations should accelerate the uptake of, in particular, zero-emission vehicles and thereby create demand for recharging and refuelling infrastructure. It is important that Regulations (EU) 2019/631 and (EU) 2019/1242 and this Regulation ensure a coherent framework for the use and deployment of alternative fuels in road transport.

(4)

Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport and Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) should boost the production and uptake of sustainable alternative fuels in aviation and maritime transport. While the fuel use requirements for sustainable aviation fuels can largely rely on the existing refuelling infrastructure, investments are needed for the electricity supply of stationary aircraft. Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 sets requirements in particular for the use of on-shore power that can only be fulfilled if an adequate level of shore-side electricity supply is deployed in the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) ports. However, those Regulations do not contain any requirements concerning fuel infrastructure, although such requirements are a prerequisite for achieving the targets.

(5)

Therefore, all modes of transport should be addressed in a single legal act which should take into account a variety of alternative fuels. The use of zero-emission powertrain technologies is at different stages of maturity in the different modes of transport and in the different Member States. In particular, in the road sector, a rapid uptake of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles is taking place. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are available on the market, as well. In addition, smaller hydrogen-powered vessels and battery electric vessels and hydrogen-powered trains are currently being deployed in different projects and in first commercial operations, with full commercial roll-out expected in the coming years. In contrast, the aviation and waterborne sectors continue to be dependent on liquid and gaseous fuels, as zero- and low-emission powertrain solutions are expected to enter the market only by approximately 2030 or even later, in particular for the aviation sector, with full commercialisation taking its time. The use of fossil gaseous or liquid fuels is only possible if it is clearly embedded into a clear decarbonisation pathway that is in line with the long-term objective of climate neutrality in the Union, requiring increasing blending with or replacement by renewable fuels such as bio-methane, advanced biofuels or renewable and low-carbon synthetic, paraffinic, gaseous and liquid fuels.

(6)

Such biofuels, synthetic and paraffinic fuels, substituting diesel, petrol and jet fuels, can be produced from different feedstock and can be blended into fossil fuels at very high blending ratios. Those fuels are especially important for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation and maritime transport sectors, in which electrification is expected to be slower. Those fuels are technically compatible with the current vehicle technology, with minor adaptations. Moreover, renewable methanol can, among other things, be used for inland navigation and short-sea shipping. Synthetic and paraffinic fuels have the potential to reduce the use of fossil fuel sources in the transport sector. All of those fuels can be distributed, stored and used with the existing infrastructure or, where necessary, with infrastructure of the same kind.

(7)

Liquefied methane is likely to continue to play a role in maritime transport, where no economically viable zero-emission powertrain technology is currently available. However, liquefied methane from fossil sources should be phased out in maritime transport as soon as possible and substituted by more sustainable alternatives. The Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy points to zero-emission seagoing ships becoming market ready by 2030 and projects for such ships are already underway. Fleet conversion is expected to take place gradually due to the long lifetime of seagoing ships. In contrast with the situation in maritime transport, in inland waterway transport, with normally smaller vessels and shorter distances, zero-emission powertrain technologies, such as for hydrogen and electricity, are becoming mature technologies and are therefore expected to enter the market more quickly. However, those zero-emission powertrain technologies could play an important role for maritime transport in terms of creating scale regarding zero-emission propulsion solutions. Liquefied methane is expected to no longer play a significant role in that sector. Transport fuels such as liquefied methane need increasingly to be decarbonised by blending or by being substituted with, for example, liquefied biomethane or renewable and low-carbon synthetic gaseous e-fuels (e-gas). The same infrastructure can be used for those decarbonised fuels as for fossil gaseous fuels, thereby allowing for a gradual shift towards decarbonised fuels.

(8)

In the heavy-duty road transport sector, technologies for liquefied methane driven trucks are fully mature. The common scenarios underpinning the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the Commission Communication of 17 September 2020 entitled ‘Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition - Investing in a climate-neutral future for the benefit of our people’ (the ‘Climate Target Plan’) as well as the revised ‘Fit for 55’ package modelling scenarios suggest a limited role for gaseous fuels, that will increasingly be decarbonised in heavy-duty road transport and especially in the long-haul segment. Furthermore, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, for which sufficient infrastructure network already exists across the Union are expected gradually to be replaced by zero-emission powertrains and therefore only a limited targeted policy for liquefied methane infrastructure deployment that can equally supply decarbonised fuels is considered necessary to close remaining gaps in the main networks.

(9)

This Regulation should lay down mandatory minimum targets for the deployment of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling infrastructures for road vehicles.

(10)

A recharging station is a physical installation for the recharging of electric vehicles. Every recharging station has a theoretical maximum power output, expressed in kW, and has at least one recharging point that can serve only one vehicle at a time. The number of recharging points at a recharging station determines the number of vehicles that can be recharged at that station at any given time. Where more than one vehicle recharges at a recharging station at a given time, the maximum power output is distributed to the different recharging points in such a way that the power provided at each individual recharging point is lower than the power output of that recharging station. A recharging pool consists of one or more recharging stations at a specific location, including, as the case may be, the dedicated parking places adjacent to them. With regard to the targets set out in this Regulation for recharging pools, the minimum power output required for recharging pools could be provided by one or more recharging stations.

(11)

Publicly accessible recharging or refuelling points include, for example, privately owned recharging or refuelling points accessible to the public that are located on public or private property, such as public parking areas or parking areas of supermarkets. A recharging or refuelling point located on private property that is accessible to the public should be considered to be publicly accessible also in cases where access is restricted to a certain general group of users, for example to clients. Recharging or refuelling points for car-sharing schemes should only be considered to be publicly accessible if they explicitly allow access for third party users. Recharging or refuelling points located on private property to which access is restricted to a limited and determinate group of persons, such as parking places in an office building to which only employees or authorised persons have access, should not be considered to be publicly accessible recharging or refuelling points.

(12)

With a view to increasing consumer convenience, it is important that operators of publicly accessible recharging or refuelling points ensure that the opening hours of such points and uptime of their services fully meet the needs of end users.

(13)

The deployment of publicly accessible recharging infrastructure for light-duty electric vehicles has been uneven across the Union. The continued uneven distribution of publicly accessible recharging infrastructure would jeopardise the uptake of light-duty electric vehicles, thereby limiting connectivity across the Union. Continuing divergence in policy ambitions and approaches at national level hinders the much-needed sustainable transition of the transport sector and is not conducive to creating the long-term certainty needed for substantive market investment. Mandatory minimum targets for Member States at national level should therefore provide policy orientations and should complement national policy frameworks. That approach should combine national fleet-based targets with distance-based targets for the TEN-T. National fleet-based targets should ensure that uptake of light-duty electric vehicles in each Member State is matched by the deployment of sufficient publicly accessible recharging infrastructure. Distance-based targets for the TEN-T network should ensure full coverage of recharging points along the Union’s main road networks and thereby ensure easy and seamless travel throughout the Union.

(14)

National fleet-based targets should be established on the basis of the total number of electric vehicles registered in the Member State concerned. Those targets should be established on the basis of a common methodology that accounts for technological developments such as the increased driving range of electric vehicles or an increase in the number of fast recharging points, at which a greater number of electric vehicles can recharge than at a normal-power recharging point in a given period. That common methodology should also take into account the different recharging patterns of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. A methodology that sets out national fleet-based targets according to the total maximum power output of the publicly accessible recharging infrastructure would allow for flexibility in the implementation of different recharging technologies in Member States.

(15)

Implementation by Member States of the national fleet-based targets should ensure that a sufficient number of publicly accessible recharging points is installed in a manner that also guarantees the accessibility of recharging points in their entire territory, in particular at public transport stations, such as port passenger terminals, airports or railway stations. Deployment of those publicly accessible recharging points is particularly important in residential areas where off-street parking is scarce and in areas where, typically, vehicles are parked for extended periods of time. A sufficient number of publicly accessible fast recharging points dedicated to light-duty electric vehicles should also be deployed to increase consumer convenience, in particular, across the TEN-T network to ensure full cross-border connectivity and to enable electric vehicles to circulate throughout the Union. It is important that the deployment of publicly accessible recharging infrastructure primarily be the result of private market investment. However, Member States should, subject to Union State aid rules, be able to support the deployment of the necessary publicly accessible recharging infrastructure in cases where, due to market conditions, public support is needed before a fully competitive market is established.

(16)

Depending on the specific circumstances in a Member State, the requirements in terms of the level of fixed total power output to be provided through publicly accessible recharging stations for each light-duty battery electric vehicle registered in that Member State might no longer be justified where those requirements could have adverse effects by discouraging private investments or, in particular, by resulting in oversupply in the medium term. The risk of such adverse effects could arise due to the installation of a high number of private recharging points. The needs of users or the use-rate of publicly accessible recharging stations might be lower compared to initial assumptions, with the consequence that the total power output available through publicly accessible recharging stations reaches a disproportionately high level compared to the actual use of such stations. In such cases, the Member State concerned should be able to request authorisation to apply lower requirements than the ones laid down in this Regulation in terms of level of total power output or to cease to apply such requirements. For the Member State to be able to make such a request, the share of light-duty battery electric vehicles compared to the total fleet of light-duty vehicles registered in the Member State should have reached at least 15 % and the Member State should duly justify its request.

(17)

As part of the review of this Regulation, it is important that the Commission assess the need to include requirements for recharging infrastructure to serve electrically power-assisted bicycles and L-category vehicles such as powered electric bicycles and electric mopeds, and in particular the opportunity to equip recharging infrastructure with a household power socket that makes it possible for such vehicles to be easily charged, since they represent a mode of transport that can help further reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution.

(18)

Heavy-duty electric vehicles need a distinctively different recharging infrastructure than light-duty electric vehicles. Currently, however, there is almost no available publicly accessible infrastructure for heavy-duty electric vehicles in the Union and the deployment of such infrastructure needs to be accelerated. A combined approach of distance-based targets along the TEN-T network, with appropriate distinction between the TEN-T core network and TEN-T comprehensive network, targets for overnight recharging infrastructure and targets at urban nodes should ensure that a sufficient publicly accessible recharging infrastructure coverage for heavy-duty electric vehicles is established throughout the Union to support the expected market-share increase of heavy-duty battery electric vehicles.

(19)

A sufficient number of publicly accessible fast recharging points dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles should be deployed along the TEN-T network to ensure full connectivity throughout the Union. That infrastructure should have sufficient power output for heavy-duty vehicles to be recharged within the driver’s legal break time. In order to take into account the time needed for the planning, design and implementation of recharging infrastructure, which might include extending or upgrading the electricity grid in certain areas, land acquisition, environmental authorisations, and, if necessary, the awarding of public contracts, and in order to adapt to the progressive uptake of heavy-duty electric vehicles, publicly accessible recharging infrastructure for such vehicles should be deployed progressively from 2025 with a view to covering the entire TEN-T network by 2030.

(20)

For the purposes of deployment of recharging infrastructure along the TEN-T road network, all recharging stations to be deployed along the TEN-T road network should be located on the TEN-T road network or within 3 km driving distance from the nearest exit of a TEN-T road.

(21)

Some Member States are in the process of upgrading sections of the TEN-T network in order to meet the requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9). In doing so, Member States should strive to ensure that the requirements for the deployment of recharging and refuelling infrastructure along the TEN-T network set out in this Regulation are implemented in a comprehensive manner in order to avoid stranded assets and in a way that ensures the coordinated implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 and this Regulation.

(22)

New recharging infrastructure standards for heavy-duty electric vehicles are currently being developed. Therefore, the Commission should consider increasing the individual power output of recharging stations at recharging pools once the new common technical specifications are available.

(23)

The recharging infrastructure along the TEN-T network should be complemented with publicly accessible fast recharging infrastructure in urban nodes. That infrastructure is necessary in particular for providing charging opportunities for delivery trucks and for destination charging for long-haul trucks. Recharging points for light-duty electric vehicles in urban areas, however, should fall within the national fleet-based target. In addition to fast recharging points along the TEN-T network and in urban nodes, heavy-duty electric vehicles should also be able to use publicly accessible recharging infrastructure for overnight recharging along the main transport network to specifically support the electrification of the long-haul sector.

(24)

In order to avoid investments that would be disproportionate compared to the traffic volumes on some roads of the TEN-T network in cases where the deployment of recharging infrastructure cannot be justified in socio-economic cost-benefit terms, Member States should be able to provide that one publicly accessible recharging pool serves both directions of travel, provided that the other applicable requirements are met in terms of the maximum distance between recharging pools, the total power output of the recharging pool and the number of recharging points at the recharging pools that are applicable for a single direction of travel. Alternatively, Member States should be able to reduce the total power output of the recharging pools dedicated to light-duty electric vehicles or heavy-duty electric vehicles located along the TEN-T road network with low traffic volumes of respectively light-duty electric vehicles or heavy-duty electric vehicles. For the same purpose, Member States should also be able to allow a higher maximum distance between the publicly accessible recharging pools dedicated to light-duty electric vehicles or heavy-duty electric vehicles along roads of the TEN-T core network with very low traffic volumes.

(25)

Given the insular character of Cyprus, the absence of any land connection with other Member States and the mainland and the limited extent of its TEN-T road network, the long-distance heavy-duty traffic circulating in that Member State is limited. In addition, given the limited daily mileage of heavy-duty electric vehicles in Cyprus, their recharging needs will mostly be covered by overnight recharging capacities in private locations, such as depots. Cyprus would therefore be under a disproportionate and unnecessary obligation if it had to meet the requirements set out in this Regulation concerning minimum coverage of publicly accessible recharging pools dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles in its territory in terms of the level of total power output of such recharging pools located along the TEN-T network and the maximum distance between those recharging pools. Consequently, Cyprus should be able to submit to the Commission a reasoned request for authorisation to apply lower requirements in that respect, provided that such lower requirements would not impede the circulation of heavy-duty electric vehicles in that Member State.

(26)

Owners of electric vehicles are expected to make use to a large extent of recharging points at their own premises or in collective parking places in residential and non-residential buildings. While the deployment of ducting infrastructure and of recharging points in such buildings is regulated by Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), it is important that Member States take into account the availability of such private infrastructure when planning the deployment of publicly accessible recharging points.

(27)

The deployment of recharging infrastructure for heavy-duty electric vehicles is equally important in private locations that are not accessible to public, such as in private depots and at logistics centres to ensure overnight and destination charging. Public authorities should consider taking measures in the context of setting up their revised national policy frameworks to ensure that appropriate infrastructure is provided for overnight and destination charging for heavy-duty electric vehicles.

(28)

In accordance with the principles laid down in the Commission Communication of 23 March 2017 entitled ‘European Interoperability Framework – Implementation Strategy’, the possibility to develop advanced digital services, including contract-based payment solutions, and to ensure transparent user information by digital means depends on the deployment of digitally connected and smart recharging points that support the creation of a digitally connected and interoperable infrastructure. Those smart recharging points should comprise a set of physical attributes and technical specifications (hardware and software) that are necessary for sending and receiving data in real-time and enabling the flow of information between market actors that are dependent on those data for fully developing the recharging experience, including recharging point operators, mobility service providers, e-roaming platforms, distribution systems operators and, ultimately, end users.

(29)

Smart metering systems as defined in Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) enable real-time data to be produced, which is needed to ensure the stability of the electricity grid and to encourage rational use of recharging services. By providing energy metering in real-time and accurate and transparent information on cost, the smart metering systems encourage, in combination with smart recharging points, recharging at times of low general electricity demand and low energy prices. The use of smart metering systems in combination with smart recharging points can optimise recharging, with benefits for the electricity system and for the end user. Member States should encourage the use of smart metering systems for the recharging of electric vehicles at publicly accessible recharging stations, where technically feasible and economically reasonable, and should ensure that those systems comply with the requirements laid down in Article 20 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

(30)

The increasing number of electric vehicles in road, rail, maritime and other transport modes will require recharging operations to be optimised and managed in such a way that does not cause congestion and takes full advantage of the availability of renewable electricity and low electricity prices in the system. Smart recharging in particular can facilitate the further integration of electric vehicles into the electricity system as it enables a demand response through aggregation. System integration can be further facilitated through bidirectional recharging (vehicle-to-grid), while smart and bi-directional recharging can also reduce recharging costs for the consumer. All recharging points built or renovated after 13 April 2024 should therefore support smart recharging. In addition, communication standards supporting smart and bidirectional recharging should be adopted to ensure interoperability.

(31)

The development of on-grid and off-grid infrastructure for electric vehicles, the interaction of that infrastructure with the electricity system, and the rights and responsibilities assigned to the different actors in the electric mobility market have to be consistent with the principles established by Directive (EU) 2019/944. In that context, distribution system operators should cooperate on a non-discriminatory basis with any person establishing or operating publicly accessible recharging points. The access of Union electricity suppliers to recharging points should be without prejudice to the derogations provided for in Article 66 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

(32)

The establishment and operation of recharging points for electric vehicles should be developed as a competitive market with open access to all parties interested in rolling-out or operating recharging infrastructure. In view of the limited alternative locations for recharging points for electric vehicles on motorways, existing motorway concessions such as for conventional refuelling stations or rest areas are a particular cause for concern, since they can run for very long periods or, sometimes, even lack a specific end-date altogether. Member States should seek, to the extent possible and in compliance with Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), to competitively award new concessions specifically for recharging stations on or adjacent to existing motorway rest areas in order to prevent the encroachment of green spaces, as well as to limit deployment costs and to enable new market entrants.

(33)

Price transparency is crucial to ensuring seamless and easy recharging and refuelling. Users of alternative fuel vehicles should be provided with accurate price information before the start of the recharging or refuelling session. The price should be communicated in a clearly structured manner to allow end users to identify the different price components charged by the operator when calculating the price of a recharging or refuelling session and to anticipate the total cost. The operators of recharging stations should also be allowed to charge additional fees with a view, inter alia, to avoiding blocking the recharging point from being used by other users, as long as those fees are clearly indicated and communicated before the start of the recharging session. If the price for the recharging on an ad hoc basis is provided on a dedicated webpage, it should be clearly provided on the same webpage as the one used for the payment of the session. Laying down requirements for operators and mobility service providers would provide guarantees and predictability for consumers and thus contribute to ensuring confidence during the initial stages of uptake of electric mobility. It would also encourage the rapid uptake of battery electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered vehicles, which is essential for achieving the increased climate ambitions of the Union and the priorities set out in Commission Communication of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’. Prices should be reasonable and should not exceed the costs incurred plus a reasonable profit margin. Those price requirements are without prejudice to the right of Member States to determine the applicable unit price of the electricity charged from a recharging station in accordance with Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (13).

(34)

New services emerge over time in support of the use of electric vehicles. Incentives provided by Member States, as well as binding measures adopted by them, such as mandatory roaming capability on designated recharging points, have played a significant role in the development of such new services. Entities offering those new services, such as mobility service providers, should be able to operate under fair market conditions. In particular, operators of recharging points should not give unduly preferential treatment to some mobility service providers, for instance through unjustified price differentiation, that may impede competition and ultimately lead to higher prices for consumers. In order to ensure the transition to new services and to ensure that users of such vehicles can easily and without hindrance use recharging infrastructure everywhere in the Union, Member States should monitor the development of the recharging market. When reviewing this Regulation, the Commission should take action where required by market developments such as limitations of services for end users, services misguiding consumers and hampering price transparency, or business practices that may limit competition.

(35)

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have at present very low market penetration rates. However, a deployment of sufficient hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is essential in order to make large-scale use of hydrogen-powered vehicles possible as envisaged in the Commission Communication of 8 July 2020 entitled ‘A hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe’. Currently, hydrogen refuelling points are only deployed in a few Member States and are largely unsuitable for heavy-duty vehicles. It is therefore not possible for hydrogen-powered vehicles to circulate throughout the Union. Mandatory deployment targets for publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling points should ensure a sufficiently dense network of hydrogen refuelling points across the TEN-T core network to allow for the seamless travel of hydrogen-powered light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles throughout the Union. For the purposes of deployment of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure along the TEN-T network, all hydrogen refuelling stations to be deployed along the TEN-T road network should be located on the TEN-T road network or within 10 km driving distance from the nearest exit of a TEN-T road.

(36)

Users of alternative fuel vehicles should be able to recharge or refuel on an ad hoc basis and pay easily and conveniently at all publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points, without the need to enter into a contract with the operator of the recharging or refuelling point or a mobility service provider. Therefore, for recharging or refuelling on an ad hoc basis, all publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points should accept payment instruments that are widely used in the Union, and in particular electronic payments through terminals and devices used for payment services. As regards infrastructure deployed before the date of application of this Regulation, the application of those requirements should be deferred. That ad hoc payment method should always be available to consumers, even when contract-based payments are offered at the recharging or refuelling point.

(37)

Regardless of the brand of their vehicle, end users should be able to access and use publicly accessible recharging stations in a user-friendly and non-discriminatory way.

(38)

Transport infrastructure should allow seamless mobility and accessibility for all users, including older persons, persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities. In principle, the location of all recharging and refuelling stations, as well as the recharging and refuelling stations themselves, should be designed in such a way that they are accessible to and user-friendly for as much of the public as possible, in particular older persons, persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities. This should include, for example, providing sufficient space around the parking place, ensuring that the recharging station is not installed on a kerbed surface, ensuring that the buttons or screen of the recharging station are at an appropriate height and the weight of the recharging and refuelling cables is such that persons with limited strength can handle them with ease. In addition, the user interface of the related recharging stations should be accessible. In that sense, the accessibility requirements set out in Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14) should be applicable to recharging and refuelling infrastructure.

(39)

The safety and security of users, particularly at unattended recharging stations, could be addressed by equipping the recharging stations with emergency buttons, displaying emergency services contact information, ensuring adequate lighting or by any other appropriate measures.

(40)

Hydrogen-powered vehicles should be able to refuel at or close to the destination, which is usually located in an urban area. To ensure that publicly accessible destination refuelling is possible at least in the main urban areas, such hydrogen refuelling stations should be provided for in all urban nodes as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013. Within the urban nodes, public authorities should consider deploying the hydrogen refuelling stations within multimodal hubs, as such hubs are a typical destination for heavy-duty vehicles and because they could also supply hydrogen to other transport modes, such as rail and inland shipping. It should be possible for one publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling station located within an urban node to be taken into account to fulfil the TEN-T requirement, provided the capacity target is achieved.

(41)

At this early stage of market deployment there is still a degree of uncertainty with regard to the kind of vehicles that will come onto the market and to the kind of technologies that will be widely used. In the hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe, the heavy-duty segment was identified as the most likely segment for the early mass deployment of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Therefore, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure should focus on that segment initially, while also allowing light-duty vehicles to fuel at publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations. To ensure interoperability, all publicly accessible hydrogen stations should at least serve gaseous hydrogen at 700 bar. The roll out of the infrastructure should also take into account the emergence of new technologies, such as liquid hydrogen technology, that allow for a larger range for heavy-duty vehicles and are expected to be the preferred technology choice of some vehicle manufacturers.

(42)

The development of new technologies will require coordination among all stakeholders. For example, the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, set up by Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 (15), should also be used with a view to facilitating and leveraging private funding so that the relevant targets identified in this Regulation can be reached.

(43)

A number of liquefied methane refuelling points are established in the Union, already providing a backbone for the circulation of liquefied methane driven heavy-duty vehicles. The TEN-T core network should remain the basis for the deployment of liquefied methane infrastructure as it covers the main traffic flows and allows cross-border connectivity throughout the Union. Directive 2014/94/EU recommended that such refuelling points be deployed every 400 km along the TEN-T core network. However, the existence of a limited number of gaps along the network has prevented that target from being reached. Member States should reach that target and fill the remaining gaps by 2025, after which the target should cease to apply.

(44)

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term ‘liquefied methane’ should be understood to mean ‘LNG, liquefied biogas or synthetic liquefied methane, including blends of these fuels’. The use of the defined term ‘liquefied methane’ does not alter the definition or composition of the separate fuels (LNG, liquefied biogas or synthetic liquefied methane), as defined in other Union legal acts.

(45)

Shore-side electricity facilities, either fixed or mobile, can serve maritime transport and inland navigation in providing a clean power supply and can contribute to reducing the environmental, climate and health impact of seagoing ships and inland waterway vessels, in particular in terms of air quality for urban areas surrounding ports. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 ship operators of seagoing container ships and seagoing passenger ships are to reduce the amount of emissions produced by their ships while moored at the quayside. Mandatory deployment targets should ensure that the sector finds sufficient shore-side electricity supply for ships that are moored at the quayside in TEN-T core maritime ports and TEN-T comprehensive maritime ports to comply with those requirements. Therefore, it is important to lay down clear targets for shore-side electricity infrastructure deployment in TEN-T ports. In view of the fact that Member States have different governance models for ports, in order to reach those targets, Member States should be able to decide on the best way for them in which to deploy infrastructure within their ports and in the different terminals according to their needs. It is important that within ports, and where relevant between terminals, infrastructure be deployed where the maximum return on investment and occupancy rate result in the highest environmental benefits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and air pollution reductions.

(46)

The planning, development and deployment of shore-side electricity supply for seagoing ships requires a coordinated approach to match supply and demand. Therefore, all public and private stakeholders on both the ship side and the port side, as well as any other relevant market actors, should coordinate to allow for smooth operation on an everyday basis.

(47)

It is important to avoid stranded assets and to make sure that the public and private investments that are made today are future-proof and contribute to the transition to climate neutrality as set out in the European Green Deal. The deployment of shore-side electricity supply in maritime ports has to be seen together with the current and future deployment of equivalent alternative zero-greenhouse gas emissions technologies and zero-pollution technologies, in particular those technologies that deliver emission and pollution reductions both at berth and during navigation.

(48)

As a priority, seagoing container ships and seagoing passenger ships, being the ship categories which produce the highest amount of emissions per ship while moored at the quayside, should be provided with a shore-side electricity supply. In order to take into account the power demand characteristics of different seagoing passenger ships moored at the quayside, as well as port operational characteristics, it is necessary to distinguish between the seagoing passenger ship requirements for ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger crafts on the one hand, and those for other seagoing passenger ships, on the other.

(49)

The mandatory deployment targets should take into account the types of vessels served and traffic volumes of maritime ports. In order to avoid the installation of capacity that will be underused, maritime ports with low traffic volumes of certain ship categories based on the average annual number of port calls should not be subject to the mandatory deployment targets for the corresponding ship categories. Similarly, the mandatory targets should not aim to target maximum demand, but a sufficiently high volume, in order to avoid underused capacity and to take account of port operational characteristics.

(50)

When determining the number of the port calls, port calls of short duration, port calls of ships that use zero-emission technologies, unscheduled port calls for reasons of safety or saving lives at sea, port calls under exceptional circumstances requiring the use of on-board energy generation, port calls under emergency situations that represent immediate risk to life, the ship or the environment or port calls for other reasons of force majeure should not be taken into account.

(51)

Maritime transport is an important factor in the cohesion and economic development of islands and the outermost regions of the Union, as well as for Ceuta and Melilla. Electricity production capacity in those islands, regions and territories may not always be sufficient to account for the power demand required to support the provision of shore-side electricity supply. In such cases, those islands, regions and territories are to be exempted from the requirement to provide shore-side electricity supply unless and until such an electrical connection with the mainland or neighbouring countries, as the case may be, has been completed or there is sufficient locally generated capacity from non-fossil energy sources.

(52)

An appropriate number of refuelling points for liquefied methane in TEN-T core maritime ports should be available by 2025. The deployment of that infrastructure should be driven by market demand. Refuelling points for liquefied methane include liquefied methane terminals, tanks, tank truck trailers, truck tankers, mobile containers, bunker vessels and barges.

(53)

Installations providing shore-side electricity supply should also be deployed in inland waterway ports of the TEN-T network.

(54)

The use of an external electricity supply should replace the use of the engines when aircraft are stationary at airports. This should reduce pollutant and noise emissions, improve air quality and reduce the impact of aircraft on climate change. Therefore, for all commercial transport operations, an external electricity supply should be provided while aircraft are parked at the aircraft contact stands or aircraft remote stands at airports of the TEN-T network. The external electricity supply to aircraft could be ensured by fixed or mobile ground power units, both at aircraft contact stands and aircraft remote stands. While aircraft should be able to make use of external electricity supply at all aircraft contact stands and aircraft remote stands used for commercial air transport operations, it is not necessary for each stand to be equipped with a fixed or mobile ground power unit, since a single ground power unit, whether fixed or mobile, is capable of serving multiple stands and of being deployed to meet operational needs.

(55)

When ensuring that stationary aircraft are provided with access to an electricity supply in airports, Member States should, where appropriate, promote cooperation of the airport managing body with suppliers of ground-handling services, as well as, where relevant, with self-handling airport users. Member States should in particular do so through the Airport Users’ Committee set up pursuant to Council Directive 96/67/EC (16).

(56)

Members States should be able to exempt airports of the TEN-T network with less than 10 000 commercial flight movements per year, calculated as an average over the previous three years, from the obligation to provide electricity to stationary aircraft at all remote stands. In view of the number of flights concerned, the investment and maintenance costs for providing the aircraft remote stands with electricity in those airports of the TEN-T network might not be proportionate to the environmental benefit, especially in comparison with more efficient investments to tackle airports’ CO2 emissions.

(57)

In accordance with Directive 2014/94/EU, Member States have established national policy frameworks outlining their objectives and plans to ensure that those objectives are met. Both the assessment of the national policy frameworks and the evaluation of Directive 2014/94/EU have highlighted the need for higher ambition and a better coordinated approach across Member States in view of the expected acceleration in the uptake of alternative fuel vehicles, in particular of electric vehicles. Furthermore, alternatives to fossil fuels will be needed in all transport modes to meet the ambitions of the European Green Deal and the Union climate objectives. The existing national policy frameworks should be revised to clearly describe how the much greater need for publicly accessible recharging and refuelling infrastructure as expressed in the mandatory targets is going to be met by the Member States. The revised national policy frameworks could also address transport modes for which no mandatory deployment targets exist. Member States should regularly report on the progress made with regard to the implementation of those revised national policy frameworks.

(58)

Moreover, Member States should regularly assess how the deployment and operation of recharging points could enable electric vehicles to further contribute to the flexibility of the energy system and to the further absorption of renewable electricity. That assessment should identify the appropriate measures to be implemented to ensure consistency of the infrastructure planning with the respective grid planning in order to meet the requirements set out in this Regulation. Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17) and Directive (EU) 2019/944, Member States should take all necessary steps to ensure that the electricity grid meets the power demand of the recharging infrastructure provided for in this Regulation. To that end, Member States should upgrade and maintain the electricity grid so that it is able to handle present and future demand from the transport sector for electricity.

(59)

The revised national policy frameworks should include support measures for the development of the market as regards alternative fuels, including the deployment of the necessary alternative fuels infrastructure to be put into place, in close cooperation with regional and local authorities and with the industry concerned, while taking into account the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the revised national policy frameworks should describe the overall national framework for planning, permitting and procuring of such infrastructure, identify any obstacles and the actions that will be taken to remove them so that the time between the deployment and use of the infrastructure is reasonable and a faster rollout of infrastructure can be achieved. When revising the national policy frameworks, it is important to observe the general principles of technological neutrality and energy efficiency first. Member States should list all measures that have been adopted or are planned.

(60)

The development and implementation of the revised national policy frameworks of the Member States should be facilitated by the Commission by means of exchanges of information and best practices between the Member States. Each Member State should also be able to decide to appoint a national coordinator for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure with the task of overseeing the national coordination and implementation of the national policy framework.

(61)

In order to promote alternative fuels and develop the relevant infrastructure, the national policy frameworks should provide an overview of the state of play, perspectives and planned initiatives to promote alternative fuels in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise such as aviation, maritime transport, inland navigation, as well as rail transport on rail sections that cannot be electrified. In particular, Member States should provide an overview of the state of play, perspectives and planned initiatives for the decarbonisation of inland navigation along the TEN-T network in close cooperation with the Member States concerned. Long term decarbonisation strategies could also be developed for ports of the TEN-T network and airports of the TEN-T network, in particular with a focus on the deployment of infrastructure for low- and zero-emission vessels and aircraft, as well as for railway lines that are not going to be electrified. On the basis of those strategies, and taking into consideration the national market and traffic share data and market projections, the Commission should review this Regulation with a view to setting additional mandatory targets for those sectors.

(62)

The development of alternative fuel technologies is also important for railways, where direct electrification of a rail section might not be possible for reasons such as the cost-efficiency of the service. Different technologies are available to which the rail sector can switch from diesel trains, including direct electrification, battery-powered trains and hydrogen applications. The development of those technologies requires the deployment of suitable recharging and refuelling infrastructure in Member States.

(63)

Member States should make use of a wide range of regulatory and non-regulatory incentives and measures to reach the mandatory targets and implement their national policy frameworks, in close cooperation with private sector actors, who should play a key role in supporting the development of alternative fuels infrastructure.

(64)

Pursuant to Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (18), minimum national shares of public procurement are reserved for clean buses and zero-emission buses, where a clean bus uses alternative fuels as defined in this Regulation. With ever more public transport authorities and operators switching to clean buses and zero-emission buses in order to reach those mandatory targets, it is important that Member States include the targeted promotion and development of the necessary recharging and refuelling infrastructure for buses as a key element in their national policy frameworks. It is also important that Member States establish and maintain appropriate instruments to promote the deployment of recharging and refuelling infrastructure for buses also for captive fleets, in particular for clean buses and zero-emission buses at local level.

(65)

In light of the increasing diversity in the type of fuels for motorised vehicles coupled with on-going growth in the road mobility of citizens across the Union, it is necessary to provide consumers with clear and easy-to-understand information on the fuels available at refuelling stations and on the compatibility of their vehicles with different fuels or recharging points on the Union market.

(66)

Simple and easy-to-compare information on price of different fuels could play an important role in enabling consumers to better evaluate the relative cost of individual fuels available on the market. Therefore, a unit price comparison of certain alternative fuels and conventional fuels, expressed as ‘fuel price per 100 km’, should be shown for information purposes at all relevant refuelling stations. It should be made clear to consumers that such comparisons concern the average fuel prices in the Member State, which might differ from the actual prices charged at the refuelling station concerned. Moreover, the Commission should, if appropriate, review Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (19) in order to ensure that consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars, as provided for by that Directive, takes into account and reflects the developments related to the transition to alternative fuels.

(67)

It is necessary to provide consumers with sufficient information regarding the geographic location, characteristics and services offered at the publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points of alternative fuels covered by this Regulation. Therefore, Member States should ensure that operators or owners of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points make relevant static data and dynamic data available. Requirements on data types regarding the availability of and accessibility to relevant data related to recharging and refuelling should be laid down, building on the outcomes of the Programme Support Action on ‘Data collection related to recharging/refuelling points for alternative fuels and the unique identification codes related to e-mobility actors’ (‘IDACS’), that was concluded in 2022.

(68)

This Regulation addresses data types that are necessary for the functioning of a competitive and open market, and essential for end users to make informed decisions on their recharging and refuelling sessions including through high-quality information services developed by relevant market actors. The data types requirements laid down in this Regulation should apply only to the data that are available in a digital machine-readable format.

(69)

Data should play a fundamental role in the adequate functioning of recharging and refuelling infrastructure. The format, the frequency and the quality in which those data should be made available and accessible determine the overall quality of an alternative fuels infrastructure that meets user needs. Moreover, those data should be accessible in a coherent manner in all Member States. Member States should make the data concerning alternative fuels infrastructure available as open data through their national access point in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/670 (20) and in compliance with the additional specifications that are complementary to those set out in that Delegated Regulation. It should also be possible for such data to be provided to a common European access point that the Commission should establish, which should function as a single Union data gateway for the data made available by operators in the national access points. The common European access point should, where possible, build on the existing structures and functions of the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (‘EAFO’) in conjunction with the TENtec Information System or, for example, be made accessible through a dedicated web portal. The common European access point should enable data users to easily access data, to compare information on price and to obtain information on the characteristics of the alternative fuels infrastructure, such as accessibility, availability or power capacity.

(70)

It is crucial that all actors in the electric mobility sector can interact easily through digital means to provide the best service quality to end users. Such interaction requires unique identifiers for the actors in the value chain. To that end, all Member States should establish an Identification Registration Organisation (‘IDRO’) for issuing and managing unique identification (‘ID’) codes to identify, as a minimum, operators of recharging points and mobility service providers. Each IDRO should collect information on e-mobility ID codes that are already in use in its Member State, issue new e-mobility ID codes, where needed, to recharging point operators and mobility service providers under an Union-wide common agreed logic in which e-mobility ID codes are formatted, and enable the exchange of those e-mobility codes and the verification of their uniqueness via a potential future common Identification Registration Repository (‘IDRR’). The Commission should issue technical guidance on the set up of such organisations, drawing on the outcome of IDACS.

(71)

Technical specifications for interoperability of recharging and refuelling points should be specified in European or international standards. The European standardisation organisations should adopt European standards in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (21). It is important that those standards be based on current international standards or ongoing international standardisation work, where applicable. To that end, it is important that European standardisation processes for recharging and refuelling infrastructure proceed quickly, supporting prompt adherence to the timeline necessary for planning, tendering and building the infrastructure required under this Regulation. It is also important to initiate or accelerate the standardisation processes for a Union-wide harmonised recharging infrastructure for stationary and dynamic recharging.

(72)

Maritime transport and inland navigation need new standards to facilitate and consolidate the entry into the market of alternative fuels, in relation to electricity supply and hydrogen, methanol and ammonia bunkering, as well as standards for communication exchange between vessels and infrastructure.

(73)

The International Maritime Organization (‘IMO’) develops uniform and internationally recognised safety and environmental standards for maritime transport. Conflicts with international standards should be avoided in view of the global nature of maritime transport. Therefore, the Union should ensure that technical specifications for maritime transport adopted pursuant to this Regulation are consistent with international rules adopted by the IMO.

(74)

In the application of this Regulation, the Commission should consult relevant expert groups, and in particular the Sustainable Transport Forum (‘STF’) and the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (‘ESSF’). Such expert consultation is of particular importance when the Commission intends to adopt delegated or implementing acts under this Regulation.

(75)

Alternative fuels infrastructure is a rapidly developing area. The lack of common technical specifications constitutes a barrier for the creation of a single market of alternative fuels infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to lay down technical specifications for areas where common technical specifications are necessary but do not yet exist. In particular, those technical specifications should cover the communication between the electric vehicle and the recharging point, the communication between the recharging point and the recharging software management system (back-end), the communication related to the electric vehicle roaming service and the communication with the electricity grid, while ensuring the highest level of cybersecurity protection and protection of final customers’ personal data. It is also necessary to establish a suitable governance framework and the roles of the different actors involved in the vehicle-to-grid communication sector. Moreover, emerging technological developments, such as electric road systems, in particular dynamic overhead power supply via a pantograph, dynamic ground level power supply through conductive rails and inductive power supply through coils in the road, have to be accounted for. As regards data provision, it is necessary for additional data types, such as the data related to the existence of facilities offering associated services to end users, the data related to the accepted payment methods, the data related to the available languages on the infrastructure and the data related to providing smart and bidirectional recharging services, to be added to the data on publicly accessible recharging.

(76)

In order to supplement this Regulation by establishing further technical specifications and to amend this Regulation by adding additional data types, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of common technical requirements for a common application programme interface to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points and data users. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (22). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(77)

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with respect to the development of labelling provisions, to the format, frequency and quality of data on publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points to be made available and accessible under this Regulation and to the procedure enabling that availability and accessibility. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (23).

(78)

The market for alternative fuels and in particular for zero-emission fuels is still in the early stages of development and technology is evolving fast. This development is likely to affect the demand for alternative fuels and consequently for alternative fuels infrastructure across all transport modes. The Commission should therefore, by 31 December 2024, present a technology and market readiness report dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles. That report should take into account the first indications of the preferences of the market and consider the technological development and the development of the technical specifications. By 31 December 2026 and every five years thereafter, the Commission should carry out a review of this Regulation.

(79)

Given that this Regulation will result in additional adjustment and administrative costs, the overall regulatory burden for the sectors covered by this Regulation should be kept under close review. Against that backdrop, in its report evaluating the functioning of this Regulation the Commission should assess the extent to which the objectives of this Regulation have been met and the extent to which it has impacted the competitiveness of the relevant sectors. That review should also cover the interaction of this Regulation with other relevant Union legal acts, including possible actions and measures that have been or could be taken to reduce the total cost pressure on the relevant sectors.

(80)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to ensure the deployment of sufficient alternative fuels infrastructure in the Union, in particular for road vehicles, trains, vessels and stationary aircraft, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the need to enable Union-wide mobility of alternative fuel vehicles, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(81)

Directive 2014/94/EU should therefore be repealed. Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2019/1745 (24) and (EU) 2021/1444 (25) set out undated technical specifications for certain types of alternative fuels infrastructure and those specifications are now dated and listed in Annex II to this Regulation. Therefore, those Delegated Regulations should also be repealed,

(1)

‘accessibility of data’ means the possibility to request and obtain data at any time in a machine readable format;

(2)

‘ad hoc price’ means the price charged by the operator of a recharging or refuelling point to an end user for recharging or refuelling on an ad hoc basis;

(3)

‘along the TEN-T road network’ means:

(4)

‘alternative fuels’ means fuels or power sources which serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil oil sources in the energy used for transport and which have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector, including:

(5)

‘aircraft contact stand’ means a stand in a designated area of the airport apron equipped with a passenger boarding bridge;

(6)

‘aircraft remote stand’ means a stand in a designated area of the airport apron not equipped with a passenger boarding bridge;

(7)

‘airport of the TEN-T core network or airport of the TEN-T comprehensive network’ means an airport as listed and categorised in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(8)

‘automatic authentication’ means the authentication of a vehicle at a recharging point through the recharging connector or telematics;

(9)

‘availability of data’ means the existence of data in a digital machine-readable format;

(10)

‘battery electric vehicle’ means an electric vehicle that runs exclusively on the electric motor, with no secondary source of propulsion;

(11)

‘bi-directional recharging’ means a smart recharging operation where the direction of the electricity flow can be reversed, allowing that electricity flows from the battery to the recharging point it is connected to;

(12)

‘connector’ means the physical interface between the recharging or refuelling point and the vehicle through which the fuel or electric energy is exchanged;

(13)

‘commercial air transport’ means ‘commercial air transport’ as defined in Article 3, point (24), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council (26);

(14)

‘container ship’ means a ship designed exclusively for the carriage of containers in holds and on deck;

(15)

‘contract-based payment’ means a payment for a recharging or refuelling service from the end user to a mobility service provider on the basis of a contract concluded between that end user and that mobility service provider;

(16)

‘data user’ means any public authority, road authority, road operator, recharging and refuelling point operator, research or non-governmental organisation, mobility service provider, e-roaming platform, digital map provider or any other entity interested in using data to provide information, create services or perform research or analysis on alternative fuels infrastructure;

(17)

‘digitally-connected recharging point’ means a recharging point that can send and receive information in real time, communicate bi-directionally with the electricity grid and the electric vehicle, and that can be remotely monitored and controlled, including in order to start and stop the recharging session and to measure electricity flows;

(18)

‘distribution system operator’ means a ‘distribution system operator’ as defined in Article 2, point (29), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

(19)

‘distributor’ means a ‘distributor’ as defined in Article 3, point (43), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council (27);

(20)

‘dynamic data’ means data that change often or on a regular basis;

(21)

‘electric road system’ means a physical installation along a road for the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle while the vehicle is in motion;

(22)

‘electric vehicle’ means a motor vehicle equipped with a powertrain containing at least one non-peripheral electric machine as energy converter with an electric rechargeable energy storage system, which can be recharged externally;

(23)

‘electricity supply to stationary aircraft’ means the supply of electricity through a standardised fixed or mobile interface to an aircraft when stationed at an aircraft contact stand or at an aircraft remote stand;

(24)

‘end user’ means a natural or legal person purchasing an alternative fuel for direct use in a vehicle;

(25)

‘e-roaming’ means the exchange of data and payments between the operator of a recharging or refuelling point and a mobility service provider from which an end user purchases a recharging or refuelling service;

(26)

‘e-roaming platform’ means a platform connecting market actors, notably mobility service providers and operators of recharging or refuelling points, to enable the provision of services between them, including e-roaming;

(27)

‘European standard’ means a ‘European standard’ as defined in Article 2, point (1)(b), of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

(28)

‘general aviation’ means all civil aviation operations other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire;

(29)

‘gross tonnage’ (GT) means ‘gross tonnage’ as defined in Article 3, point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 of the European Parliament and of the Council (28);

(30)

‘heavy-duty vehicle’ means a Category M2 motor vehicle as described in Article 4(1), point (a)(ii), a Category M3 motor vehicle as described in Article 4(1), point (a)(iii), a Category N2 motor vehicle as described in Article 4(1), point (b)(ii) or a Category N3 motor vehicle as described in Article 4(1), point (b)(iii), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858;

(31)

‘high-power recharging point’ means a recharging point with a power output of more than 22 kW for the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle;

(32)

‘high-speed passenger craft’ means a ‘high-speed craft’ as defined in Regulation 1 of Chapter X of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS 74), which carries more than 12 passengers;

(33)

‘light-duty vehicle’ means a Category M1 motor vehicle as described in Article 4(1), point (a)(i) or a Category N1 motor vehicle as described Article 4(1), point (b)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858;

(34)

‘liquefied methane’ means LNG, liquefied biogas or synthetic liquefied methane, including blends of those fuels;

(35)

‘manufacturer’ means a ‘manufacturer’ as defined in Article 3, point (40), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858;

(36)

‘mobility service provider’ means a legal person that provides services in return for remuneration to an end user, including the selling of recharging or refuelling services;

(37)

‘normal power recharging point’ means a recharging point with a power output less than or equal to 22 kW for the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle;

(38)

‘National Access Point’ means a digital interface set up by a Member State that constitutes a single point of access to data;

(39)

‘operator of a recharging point’ means the entity that is responsible for the management and operation of a recharging point and that provides a recharging service to end users, including in the name and on behalf of a mobility service provider;

(40)

‘operator of a refuelling point’ means the entity that is responsible for the management and operation of a refuelling point and that provides a refuelling service to end users, including in the name and on behalf of a mobility service provider;

(41)

‘passenger ship’ means a ship which carries more than 12 passengers, including cruise ships, high-speed passenger crafts and ro-ro passenger ships;

(42)

‘payment service’ means a ‘payment service’ as defined in Article 4, point (3), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council (29);

(43)

‘plug-in hybrid vehicle’ means an electric vehicle with a conventional combustion engine combined with an electric propulsion system which can be recharged from an external electric power source;

(44)

‘power output’ means the theoretical maximum power, expressed in kW, that a recharging point, station or pool, or a shore-side electricity supply installation can provide to vehicles or vessels connected to that recharging point, station, pool or installation;

(45)

‘publicly accessible alternative fuels infrastructure’ means an alternative fuels infrastructure which is located at a site or premises that are open to the general public, irrespective of whether the alternative fuels infrastructure is located on public or private property, whether limitations or conditions apply in terms of access to the site or premise and irrespective of the applicable use conditions of the alternative fuels infrastructure;

(46)

‘Quick Response code’ (QR code) means an ISO/IEC 18004:2015-compliant encoding and visualisation of data;

(47)

‘recharge on an ad hoc basis’ means a recharging service purchased by an end user without the need for that end user to register, conclude a written agreement or enter into a commercial relationship with the operator of that recharging point that goes beyond the mere purchase of the recharging service;

(48)

‘recharging point’ means a fixed or mobile, on-grid or off-grid interface for the transfer of electricity to an electric vehicle which, although it may have one or more connectors to accommodate different connector types, is capable of recharging only one electric vehicle at a time, and which excludes devices with a power output less than or equal to 3,7 kW the primary purpose of which is not the recharging of electric vehicles;

(49)

‘recharging point, station or pool dedicated to light-duty vehicles’ means a recharging point, station or pool intended for the recharging of light-duty vehicles, due to the specific design of the connectors/plugs or the design of the parking space adjacent to the recharging point, station or pool, or both;

(50)

‘recharging point, station or pool dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles’ means a recharging point, station or pool intended for the recharging of heavy-duty vehicles, either due to the specific design of the connectors/plugs or to the design of the parking space adjacent to the recharging point, station or pool, or both;

(51)

‘recharging pool’ means one or more recharging stations at a specific location;

(52)

‘recharging station’ means a physical installation at a specific location, consisting of one or more recharging points;

(53)

‘recharging service’ means the sale or provision of electricity, including related services, through a publicly accessible recharging point;

(54)

‘recharging session’ means the full process of recharging a vehicle at a publicly accessible recharging point from the moment the vehicle is connected to the moment the vehicle is disconnected;

(55)

‘refuel on an ad hoc basis’ means a refuelling service purchased by an end user without the need for that end user to register, conclude a written agreement, or enter into a commercial relationship with the operator of that refuelling point that goes beyond the mere purchase of the refuelling service;

(56)

‘refuelling point’ means a refuelling facility for the provision of any liquid or gaseous fuel, through a fixed or a mobile installation, which is capable of refuelling only one vehicle, one train, one vessel or one aircraft at a time;

(57)

‘refuelling service’ means the sale or provision of any liquid or gaseous fuel through a publicly accessible refuelling point;

(58)

‘refuelling session’ means the full process of refuelling a vehicle at a publicly accessible refuelling point from the moment the vehicle is connected to the moment the vehicle is disconnected;

(59)

‘refuelling station’ means a single physical installation at a specific location, consisting of one or more refuelling points;

(60)

‘regulatory authority’ means a regulatory authority designated by each Member State pursuant to Article 57(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

(61)

‘renewable energy’ means ‘energy from renewable sources’ as defined in Article 2, second paragraph, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

(62)

‘ro-ro passenger ship’ means a ship with facilities to enable road or rail vehicles to roll on and roll off the vessel which carries more than 12 passengers;

(63)

‘safe and secure parking area’ means a parking area accessible to drivers engaged in the carriage of goods or passengers which has been certified in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1012 (30);

(64)

‘shore-side electricity supply’ means the provision of shore-side electrical power through a standardised fixed or mobile interface to seagoing ships or inland waterway vessels, moored at the quayside;

(65)

‘smart recharging’ means a recharging operation in which the intensity of electricity delivered to the battery is adjusted in real-time, based on information received through electronic communication;

(66)

‘static data’ means data that do not change often or on a regular basis;

(67)

‘TEN-T comprehensive network’ means a comprehensive network within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(68)

‘TEN-T core network’ means a core network within the meaning of Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(69)

‘TEN-T core inland waterway port or TEN-T comprehensive inland waterway port’ means an inland waterway port of the TEN-T core network or TEN-T comprehensive network, as listed and categorised in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(70)

‘TEN-T core maritime port or TEN-T comprehensive maritime port’ means a maritime port of the TEN-T core network or TEN-T comprehensive network, as listed and categorised in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013;

(71)

‘transmission system operator’ means a ‘transmission system operator’ as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;

(72)

‘urban node’ means an ‘urban node’ as defined in Article 3, point (p), of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013.

(a)

at least one installation providing shore-side electricity supply to inland waterway vessels is deployed at all TEN-T core inland waterway ports by 31 December 2024;

(b)

at least one installation providing shore-side electricity supply to inland waterway vessels is deployed at all TEN-T comprehensive inland waterway ports by 31 December 2029.

(1)

Maritime transport accounts for around 75 % of the Union’s external trade and 31 % of its internal trade in terms of volume. 400 million passengers embark or disembark annually in ports of Member States, including around 14 million on cruise passenger ships. Maritime transport is therefore an essential component of the Union’s transport system and plays a critical role for the Union’s economy. The maritime transport market is subject to strong competition between economic actors within and outside the Union for which a level playing field is indispensable. The stability and prosperity of the maritime transport market and its economic actors rely on a clear and harmonised policy framework within which maritime transport operators, ports and other actors in the sector can operate on the basis of equal opportunities. Where market distortions occur, they risk putting maritime transport operators or ports at a disadvantage compared to their competitors within the maritime transport sector or in other transport sectors. In turn, it is possible for that disadvantage to result in a loss of competitiveness of the maritime transport industry, fewer jobs and a loss of connectivity for citizens and businesses.

(2)

According to the EU Blue Economy Report, 2022, the EU Blue Economy created a total of approximately 5,7 million jobs in 2014, of which 3,2 million were created through direct employment in the established sectors and an additional 2,5 million were generated via the respective supply chains. That report also states that Union maritime ports alone create approximately 2,5 million jobs (direct and indirect) in 2014. Of that amount of jobs, only approximately 0,5 million are captured by sectoral statistics, because maritime ports generate employment and economic benefits in other sectors such as logistics and maritime shipping services. The seven established sectors of the EU Blue Economy generated a gross value added of EUR 183,9 billion in 2019 (3).

(3)

According to the Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Commission Communication of 9 December 2020 entitled ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future’, compared to other modes of transport, maritime transport remains the most carbon-efficient mode of transport per ton km. At the same time, ship traffic to or from ports in the European Economic Area accounts for some 11 % of all Union carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport and 3 to 4 % of total Union CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions from maritime transport are expected to increase, unless further action is taken. All sectors of the Union economy are to contribute to the swift reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero at the latest by 2050, as enshrined in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). It is therefore essential for the Union to set out an appropriate pathway for the swift ecological transition of the maritime transport sector, which would also contribute to maintaining and further promoting the Union’s global leadership in relation to green technologies, services and solutions, and to further stimulating job creation in the related value chains while maintaining competitiveness.

(4)

To enhance the Union’s climate commitment under the Paris Agreement (5), adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the ‘Paris Agreement’), Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 aims to reduce GHG emissions (emissions after deduction of removals) by at least 55 % compared to 1990 levels by 2030 and puts the Union on a path to becoming climate neutral by 2050 at the latest. Additionally, various complementary policy instruments are needed to promote and speed up the use of sustainably produced renewable and low-carbon fuels, including in the maritime transport sector, while respecting the principle of technological neutrality. The necessary technology development and its deployment have to be under way by 2030 to prepare for much more rapid change thereafter. It is also essential to foster innovation and to support research for emerging and future innovation such as emerging alternative fuels, eco-design, bio-based materials, wind propulsion and wind-assisted propulsion.

(5)

In the context of fuel transition to renewable and low-carbon fuels and substitute sources of energy, it is essential to ensure the proper functioning of and fair competition in the Union maritime transport market regarding maritime fuels, which account for a substantial share of companies’ and operators’ costs. Policy measures should therefore be cost-effective. Differences in fuel requirements across Member States can significantly affect ship operators’ economic performance and negatively impact competition in the market. Due to the international nature of shipping, ship operators may easily bunker in third countries and carry large amounts of fuel, which could also contribute to a risk of loss of competitiveness of Union ports in comparison to non-Union ports. That situation could lead to carbon leakage and detrimental effects on the competitiveness of the sector if the availability of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime ports under the jurisdiction of a Member State is not accompanied by requirements for their use that apply to all ships arriving at and departing from maritime ports under the jurisdiction of Member States. Therefore, this Regulation should lay down measures to ensure that the penetration of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the maritime fuels market takes place under the conditions of fair competition on the Union maritime transport market.

(6)

The maritime transport sector is subject to strong international competition. Major differences in regulatory burdens across flag states have often led to unwanted practices such as the reflagging of ships. The sector’s intrinsic global character underlines the importance of a flag-neutral approach and of a favourable regulatory environment, which would help to attract new investment and safeguard the competitiveness of Union ports, shipowners and ship operators.

(7)

In order to produce an effect on all activities in the maritime transport sector, this Regulation should apply to half of the energy used by a ship performing voyages arriving at a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State from a port outside the jurisdiction of a Member State, half of the energy used by a ship performing voyages departing from a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State and arriving at a port outside the jurisdiction of a Member State, the entirety of the energy used by a ship performing voyages arriving at a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State from a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State, and the energy used within a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State. Such a framework of application would ensure the effectiveness of this Regulation, including by increasing the positive impact on the environment of such framework. That framework should limit the risk of evasive port calls and the risk of delocalisation or rerouting of activities outside the Union. In order to ensure smooth operation of maritime traffic and to avoid distortions in the internal market, a level playing field among maritime transport operators and among ports with regard to all journeys arriving at or departing from ports under jurisdiction of Member States, as well as the stay of ships in those ports, should be ensured by consistent rules set out in this Regulation.

(8)

It is essential for the Commission and the competent authorities of Member States to continuously ensure that their administrative procedures reflect best practices and to take measures in order to ensure consistency, avoid duplication in sectoral legislation and simplify the enforcement of this Regulation, thereby keeping the administrative burden on shipowners, ship operators, ports and verifiers to a minimum.

(9)

This Regulation should be consistent with Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), Directive (EU) 2023/959 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7), a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8), Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) and Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 (11), and a Council Directive restructuring the Union framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity (recast) in order to ensure the necessary degree of legal and investment certainty. Such consistency would ensure a coherent legislative framework for the maritime transport sector, that contributes to significantly increasing the production of sustainable alternative fuels, ensures the deployment of the necessary infrastructure and incentivises the use of those fuels in a steadily growing proportion of ships.

(10)

Consultations between the managing body of the port and port users and other relevant stakeholders, as provided for in Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/352 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), should take place in order to coordinate the availability of port services with regard to the alternative fuel supply that is planned and deployed in ports, as well as with regard to the demand expected from ships calling at those ports.

(11)

The rules laid down in this Regulation should apply in a non-discriminatory manner to ships regardless of their flag. For reasons of coherence with Union and international rules in the area of maritime transport, and in order to limit the administrative burden, this Regulation should apply to ships with a gross tonnage (GT) above 5 000, but should not apply to warships, naval auxiliaries, fish-catching or fish-processing ships, wooden ships of a primitive build, ships not propelled by mechanical means, or government ships used for non-commercial purposes. Although ships above 5 000 GT represent only approximately 55 % of all ships calling at ports under Regulation (EU) 2015/757 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13), they are responsible for approximately 90 % of CO2 emissions from the maritime transport sector. The Commission should regularly reassess the situation, with a view to eventually extending the scope of this Regulation to ships below 5 000 GT.

(12)

Member States which have no maritime ports on their territory, no accredited verifier, no ships flying their flag that fall under the scope of this Regulation, and which are not an administering state within the meaning of this Regulation do not need to take any action concerning the respective requirements under this Regulation for as long as those circumstances are present.

(13)

Given the increased costs for ships which comply with the requirements of this Regulation, the absence of a global measure exacerbates the risk of circumvention. Evasive port calls to ports outside of the Union and relocation of transhipment activities to ports outside of the Union will not only diminish the environmental benefits of internalising the cost of emissions from maritime transport activities but may lead to additional emissions due to the additional distance travelled by ships in order to evade the application of this Regulation. It is therefore appropriate to exclude from the concept of ‘port of call’ certain stops at non-Union ports. That exclusion should target ports in the Union’s vicinity where the risk of evasion is most significant. A limit of 300 nautical miles from a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State constitutes a proportionate response to evasive behaviour, balancing the additional burden and the risk of evasion. Moreover, the exclusion from the concept of port of call should only target stops by containerships at certain non-Union ports, where the transhipment of containers accounts for most container traffic. For such shipments, the risk of evasion, in the absence of mitigating measures, also consists in a shift of port hub to ports outside the Union, aggravating the effects of the evasion. To ensure the proportionality and equal treatment of the global measure, account should be taken of measures in third countries that are equivalent to this Regulation.

(14)

In order to take into account the specific situation of island regions, as underlined by Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the need to preserve connectivity between islands and peripheral regions of the Union with central regions of the Union, temporary exemptions should be allowed for voyages performed by passenger ships other than cruise passenger ships between a port of call under the jurisdiction of a Member State and a port of call under the jurisdiction of the same Member State located on an island with fewer than 200 000 permanent residents.

(15)

Taking into account the special characteristics and constraints of the outermost regions of the Union, in particular their remoteness and insularity, special consideration should be given to preserving their accessibility and efficient connectivity by maritime transport. Therefore, for ships falling under the scope of this Regulation only half of the energy used on voyages departing from or arriving at a port of call located in an outermost region should be included in the scope of this Regulation. For the same reasons, temporary exemptions should be allowed for voyages between a port of call located in an outermost region and another port of call located in an outermost region, and in respect of the energy used by ships during their stay within the ports of call of the corresponding outermost regions.

(16)

Member States that do not share a land border with any other Member State are particularly dependent on their maritime connection to the rest of the Union, in particular to maintain necessary connectivity for their citizens. Such Member States have to rely on public service contracts or public service obligations in order to achieve the goal of maintaining connectivity through passenger ships. A temporary exemption should be allowed in order to enable Member States to address the compelling need of providing a service of general economic interest and ensure connectivity as well as economic, social and territorial cohesion.

(17)

In addition to a general possibility for Member States to exempt voyages performed by passenger ships, other than cruise passenger ships, to islands with fewer than 200 000 permanent residents, a similar exemption should be allowed with regard to domestic voyages to islands which are performed within the framework of a public service contract or subject to a public service obligation. Such contracts and obligations have been established by Member States in order to ensure an appropriate level of connectivity to island regions at affordable prices, which would otherwise not have been achieved by market forces. Member States should be entitled to temporarily exempt such voyages performed by passenger ships between its mainland and an island of the same Member State, in order to maintain the conditions under which the public service contracts or public service obligations were established and ensure the sustained connectivity, as well as the economic, social and territorial cohesion, of the island concerned.

(18)

Article 2, point 1, of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 (14) establishes that the ports situated in Ceuta and Melilla are to be treated in the same way as island ports. Although they are not island ports by nature, their geographical position in mainland Africa and absence of land links with Spain means that, in relation to mainland Europe and in particular to Spain, those ports are comparable to island ports. Therefore, Ceuta and Melilla should be considered to be island ports in relation to the temporary exemption for the maritime cabotage between the mainland of a Member State and the islands under its jurisdiction.

(19)

Sailing in ice conditions, especially in the northern parts of the Baltic Sea, and the technical properties of ice-class ships cause additional costs for maritime transport and such costs could be further increased by this Regulation. Such additional costs for ice-class ships due to sailing in ice conditions and due to their technical properties should be mitigated in order to maintain a level playing field. Companies should therefore be allowed to apply a limited adjusted amount of energy used on board for ice-class ships. In addition, for a limited period of time, this Regulation should enable a share of the additional energy used during sailing in ice conditions to be exempted for the specific periods during which ice-class ships face conditions of navigation in ice. To that end, a verifiable methodology should be established to enable correlation between exempted share of energy and actual ice navigation conditions. The Commission should reassess such methodology, in particular in light of the robustness of the monitoring of the data necessary to report the distance and the additional energy of navigation in ice conditions, with a view to possibly extending that measure.

(20)

The entity responsible for ensuring compliance with this Regulation should be the company, defined as the shipowner or any other organisation or person, such as the manager or the bareboat charterer, that has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the shipowner and that, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention as implemented within the Union by Regulation (EC) No 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15). The definition of company under this Regulation is in line with the global data collection system established in 2016 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

(21)

The development and deployment of new fuels and energy solutions requires a coordinated approach to match supply, demand and the provision of appropriate distribution infrastructure. While the current Union regulatory framework already partly addresses fuel production by means of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and fuel distribution by means of Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (16), there is also a need for a tool that establishes increasing levels of demand for renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels.

(22)

While instruments such as carbon pricing or targets for the carbon intensity of activity promote improvements in energy efficiency, they are not suited to bring about a significant shift towards renewable and low-carbon fuels in the short and medium term. A specific regulatory approach dedicated to the deployment of renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels and substitute sources of energy, such as wind or electricity, is therefore necessary.

(23)

Policy intervention to stimulate demand for renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels should be goal-based and respect the principle of technological neutrality. Accordingly, limits should be set on the GHG intensity of the energy used on board by ships without prescribing the use of any particular fuel or technology. Such limits should be set in relation to a reference value, corresponding to the fleet average GHG intensity of the energy used on board by ships in 2020 determined on the basis of the data monitored and reported in the framework of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, of the methodology and of the default values laid down in Annexes I and II to this Regulation.

(24)

Development and deployment of renewable and low-carbon fuels with a high potential for sustainability, commercial maturity and a high potential for innovation and growth to meet future needs should be promoted. This will support creating innovative and competitive fuels markets and ensure sufficient supply of sustainable maritime fuels in the short and long term to contribute to Union transport decarbonisation ambitions, while strengthening the Union’s efforts towards a high level of environmental protection. For this purpose, sustainable maritime fuels produced from feedstock listed in Parts A and B of Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/2001, as well as synthetic maritime fuels, should be eligible. In particular, sustainable maritime fuels produced from feedstock listed in Part B of Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/2001 are essential, as the most commercially mature technology for the production of such maritime fuels with a view to decarbonising maritime transport will already be available in the short term.

(25)

Indirect land-use change occurs when the cultivation of crops for biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels displaces traditional production of crops for food and feed purposes. Such additional demand increases the pressure on land and can lead to the extension of agricultural land into areas with high-carbon stock, such as forests, wetlands and peatland, causing additional GHG emissions and loss of biodiversity. Research has shown that the scale of the effect depends on a variety of factors, including the type of feedstock used for fuel production, the level of additional demand for feedstock triggered by the use of biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels, and the extent to which land with high-carbon stock is protected worldwide. The level of GHG emissions caused by indirect land-use change cannot be unequivocally determined with the level of precision required for the establishment of emission factors required by the application of this Regulation. However, there is evidence that all fuels produced from feedstock cause indirect land-use change to various degrees. In addition to the GHG emissions linked to indirect land-use change, which is capable of negating some or all GHG emissions savings of individual biofuels, bioliquids or biomass fuels, indirect land-use change poses risks to biodiversity. Those risks are particularly serious in connection with a potentially large expansion of production determined by a significant increase in demand. Accordingly, the use of food and feed crop-based fuels should not be promoted under this Regulation. Directive (EU) 2018/2001 already limits and sets a cap on the contribution of such biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels to the GHG emissions savings targets in the road and rail transport sector considering their lower environmental benefits, lower performance in terms of GHG reduction potential and broader sustainability concerns.

(26)

In order to create a clear and predictable legal framework and thereby encourage the early market development and deployment of the most sustainable and innovative fuel technologies with growth potential to meet future needs, a dedicated incentive for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) is necessary. This incentive is justified by the fact that those types of fuels have high potential to introduce renewable energy into the marine bunker fuel mix, by their significant decarbonisation potential, as well as by their estimated production costs in the short- and mid-term. When produced from renewable electricity and carbon captured directly from the air, synthetic fuels can achieve up to 100 % emissions savings compared to fossil fuels. They also have considerable advantages compared to other types of sustainable fuels with regard to resource efficiency of the production process, in particular as regards water consumption. However, the production costs of RFNBO are currently much higher than the market price of conventional fuel and are expected to retain such higher costs in the mid-term. Therefore, this Regulation should provide for a combination of measures to ensure the support for the uptake of sustainable RFNBO, including the possibility to use a ‘multiplier’ until the end of 2033, allowing the energy from RFNBO to count twice. In addition, a 2 % RFNBO subtarget should apply as of 2034 if, further to monitoring of the market, the Commission reports that the share of RFNBO in the maritime bunker fuels used by ships falling under the scope of this Regulation is less than 1 % by 2031. That combination of measures to support RFNBO is intended to give ship operators and fuel suppliers a signal of opportunity for investment for the uptake of that type of renewable, scalable and sustainable fuel, as it provides both an end target giving the fuel suppliers certainty regarding future minimum demand as well as the opportunity for the market to find the most efficient way to adjust accordingly. Given that a market for maritime RFNBO is yet to develop, this Regulation includes safeguards and flexibility towards different possible market uptake scenarios.

(27)

Although RFNBO present a high potential to meet decarbonisation needs in the maritime sector, it is possible that other fuels will also present comparable decarbonisation potential. Factors such as technology maturity or availability to the maritime sector may affect the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels in different ports. Therefore, it is essential to ensure technological neutrality and avoid unduly discriminating against other fuels that achieve similar GHG intensity reductions as RFNBO, as well as to avoid penalising ships that use such fuels. To this end, it is important to note the GHG saving threshold of 70 % required for RFNBO, as set out by a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652. Such threshold can also be met by fuels other than RFNBO, of biologic or synthetic origin.

(28)

The maritime transport sector currently has insignificant levels of demand for food- and feed crop-based biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels, since over 99 % of currently used maritime fuels are of fossil origin. The non-eligibility of food- and feed crop-based fuels for contributing to the objectives of this Regulation also minimises any risk to the slowing down of decarbonisation of the transport sector, which could otherwise result from a shift of crop-based biofuels from road transport to maritime transport. It is essential to minimise such a shift, as road transport currently remains by far the most polluting transport sector and maritime transport currently uses predominantly fuels of fossil origin. It is therefore appropriate to avoid the creation of a potentially large demand for food- and feed crop-based biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels by promoting their use under this Regulation. Accordingly, the additional GHG emissions and loss of biodiversity caused by all types of food- and feed crop-based fuels require that those fuels be considered to have the same emission factors as the least favourable pathway.

(29)

The long lead times associated with the development and deployment of new fuels and energy solutions for maritime transport, as well as the long average lifespan of ships, which typically ranges between 25 and 30 years, require rapid action and the establishment of a clear and predictable long-term regulatory framework that facilitates planning and investment from all the stakeholders concerned. Such regulatory framework will facilitate the development and deployment of new fuels and energy solutions for maritime transport, and encourage investment from stakeholders. Such regulatory framework should also define limits for the GHG intensity of the energy used on board by ships until 2050. Those limits should become more ambitious over time to reflect the expected technology development and increased production of renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels.

(30)

This Regulation should establish the methodology and the formula for the calculation of the yearly average GHG intensity of the energy used on board by a ship. That formula should be based on the fuel consumption reported by ships and consider the relevant emission factors of the consumed fuels. The use of substitute sources of energy, such as wind or electricity, should also be reflected in the methodology.

(31)

In order to provide a more complete picture of the environmental performance of the various energy sources, the GHG performance of fuels should be assessed on a well-to-wake basis, taking into account the impacts of energy production, transport, distribution and use on board. This is to provide incentives regarding technologies and production pathways that provide a lower GHG footprint and real benefits compared to the existing conventional fuels.

(32)

The well-to-wake performance of renewable and low-carbon maritime fuels should be established using default or actual and certified emission factors covering the well-to-tank and tank-to-wake emissions. For the purpose of this Regulation, only default well-to-tank emission factors and default tank-to-wake CO2 emission factors for fossil fuels should be used.

(33)

In the event of technological progress concerning new GHG abatement technologies, such as onboard carbon capture, the Commission should assess the possibility to reflect, in the GHG intensity and compliance balance formulas set out in Annexes I and IV respectively, the contribution of such technologies to lowering the GHG direct emissions on board ships.

(34)

A comprehensive approach to the most relevant GHG emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O) is necessary to promote the use of energy sources providing a lower GHG footprint overall. In order to reflect the global warming potential of methane and nitrous oxides, the limit set by this Regulation should therefore be expressed in terms of ‘CO2 equivalent’.

(35)

The use of renewable energy sources and alternative propulsion, such as wind and solar energy, greatly reduces the GHG intensity of the overall ship energy use. The difficulty to accurately measure and quantify those energy sources (intermittence of the energy use, direct transfer as propulsion, etc.) should not impede their recognition in the overall ship energy use through means of approximations of their contribution to the ship’s compliance balance.

(36)

Air pollution produced by ships (sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter) in ports is a significant concern for coastal areas and port cities. Therefore, specific and stringent obligations should be imposed to reduce emissions from ships moored at the quayside.

(37)

The obligation for ports to provide on-shore power supply (OPS), laid down in Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, should be matched by a corresponding obligation set out in this Regulation for ships to connect to OPS infrastructure while moored at the quayside, in order to ensure the effectiveness of that infrastructure and avoid the risk of stranded assets.

(38)

The use of OPS abates air pollution produced by ships and reduces the amount of GHG emissions generated by maritime transport. OPS represents an increasingly clean power supply available to ships, in view of the growing shares of renewables and fossil-free energy sources in the Union electricity mix. While only the provision on OPS connection points is covered by Directive 2014/94/EU, the demand for, and as a result the deployment of, that technology have remained limited. Therefore, specific rules should be established to mandate the use of OPS by containerships and passenger ships, since those are the ship categories that produce the highest amount of emissions per ship while moored at the quayside, according to the data collected within the framework of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 in 2018.

(39)

In addition to OPS, other technologies might be capable of offering equivalent environmental benefits in ports. When the use of an alternative technology is demonstrated to be equivalent to the use of OPS, a ship should be exempted from the obligation to use OPS.

(40)

Different OPS projects and solutions have been tested for ships at anchorage, but there is currently no mature and scalable technical solution available. For that reason, the obligation to use OPS should be, in principle, limited to ships moored at the quayside. Nevertheless, the Commission should regularly reassess the situation, with a view to extending that obligation to ships at anchorage, when the necessary technologies are sufficiently mature. In the meantime, Member States should be allowed to impose, in certain cases, the obligation to use OPS on ships at anchorage, for example in ports that are already equipped with such technology or are located in areas where any pollution should be avoided.

(41)

Exceptions from the obligation to use OPS should also be provided for a number of objective reasons, subject to verification by the competent authority of the Member State of the port of call or any duly authorised entity, after consulting relevant entities where appropriate. Such exceptions should be limited to unscheduled port calls, which are not made on a systematic basis, for reasons of safety or saving life at sea, to short stays of ships moored at the quayside of less than two hours as this is the minimum time required for connection, to cases of unavailability or incompatibility of OPS, to the use of onboard energy generation under emergency situations and to maintenance and functional tests.

(42)

In ports falling under the requirements of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, exceptions applicable in the event of unavailability or incompatibility of OPS should be limited after shipowners and port operators have had sufficient time to make the necessary investments, in order to provide the necessary incentives for those investments and avoid unfair competition. Ship operators should plan carefully their port calls to make sure that they can carry out their activities when moored at the quayside without emitting air pollutants and GHG, in order to protect the environment in coastal areas and port cities. A limited number of exceptions applicable in the event of unavailability or incompatibility of OPS should be provided for to cater for situations where OPS was not provided, for reasons beyond the control of the ship operator. In order to mitigate the risk of stranded assets, incompatibility of OPS infrastructure on board and at berth as well as alternative fuel demand and supply imbalances, frequent consultation meetings between relevant stakeholders should be organised to discuss and take decisions on requirements and future plans.

(43)

The requirement for ports to provide OPS, laid down in Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, takes into account the types of ships served and the respective traffic volumes of maritime ports. The requirement for ships to connect to OPS should not apply to ships when calling at ports that are not covered by the OPS requirement set out in that Regulation, unless the port has OPS installed and available at the visited quayside, in which case the ship should be required to connect to OPS from 1 January 2035.

(44)

Considering the positive effects of the use of OPS on local air pollution and the need to incentivise the uptake of that technology in the short term, the carbon intensity of the production of the electricity supplied at berth should be counted as zero. The Commission should envisage the possibility to take into account the actual GHG emissions related to the electricity delivered through OPS at a later stage.

(45)

The implementation of this Regulation should take due account of the diverse governance models for ports across the Union, in particular as regards the responsibility for issuing a certificate exempting a ship from the obligation to connect to OPS.

(46)

Coordination between ports and ship operators is crucial to ensure smooth connection procedures to OPS in ports. Ship operators should inform the ports they call at about their intention to connect to OPS and about the amount of power needed during the given call, in particular when it exceeds the estimated needs for that ship category.

(47)

From 2035, the number of exceptions granted under this Regulation from the obligation to connect to OPS, which apply to certain cases where the ship is unable to connect to OPS, should be limited per ship during a reporting period. To ensure fair treatment of ships and to reflect the differences in their operating profiles, the number of exceptions should reflect the frequency of their port calls but should never amount to more than ten port calls per reporting period. However, a ship should not be penalised and port calls should not be counted against the maximum number of exceptions where, prior to arrival to a port, the ship has requested to connect to OPS and that request has been accepted by the port or the duly authorised entity, but the ship is unable to connect to OPS, and it is able to demonstrate that it could not have reasonably known it would be unable to connect to OPS.

(48)

A robust and transparent monitoring, reporting and verification system should be put in place by this Regulation in order to trace compliance with its provisions. Such system should apply in a non-discriminatory way to all ships and require third party verification in order to ensure the accuracy of the data submitted within that system. In order to facilitate achieving the objective of this Regulation, any data already reported for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 should be used, when necessary, for verifying compliance with this Regulation in order to limit administrative burden imposed on companies, verifiers and competent authorities.

(49)

Companies should be responsible for monitoring and reporting the amount and type of energy used on board by ships in navigation and at berth, as well as other relevant information, such as information on the type of engine on board or presence of wind-assisted propulsion technologies, with a view to showing compliance with the limit on the GHG intensity of the energy used on board by a ship set out by this Regulation. To facilitate the fulfilment of those monitoring and reporting obligations and the carrying-out of verification activities by the verifiers, similarly to Regulation (EU) 2015/757, companies should document the envisaged monitoring method and provide further details on the application of this Regulation in a monitoring plan. The monitoring plan, as well as its subsequent modifications, if applicable, should be submitted to and assessed by the verifier.

(50)

In order to limit the administrative burden, a unique monitoring, reporting and verification system for companies should be established for the purpose of implementing Union legal acts on reduction of GHG emissions from maritime transport. To that purpose, shortly after the publication of this Regulation, the Commission should examine the consistency of this Regulation with Regulation (EU) 2015/757 and possible duplication between those two regulations and, where appropriate, prepare a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation or Regulation (EU) 2015/757.

(51)

A robust certification and monitoring of fuels is essential to achieve the objectives of this Regulation and guarantee the environmental integrity of the renewable and low-carbon fuels that are expected to be deployed in the maritime sector. Such certification should be undertaken by means of a transparent and non-discriminatory procedure. With a view to facilitating certification and limiting the administrative burden, the certification of fuels defined in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/2001 or, where applicable, with the relevant provisions of a Union legal act concerning the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and in hydrogen, should rely on the rules established by those Union legal acts for certification. That approach to certification should also apply to fuels bunkered outside the Union, which should be considered to be imported fuels, in a similar way as in Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Where companies intend to depart from the default values provided for by those Union legal acts or by this new framework, that should only be done when values can be certified by one of the voluntary schemes recognised under Directive (EU) 2018/2001 or, where applicable, under a Union legal act which concerns the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and in hydrogen, and which establishes certain GHG emissions savings thresholds as well as the methodologies for their calculation (for well-to-tank values).

(52)

The possibility to calculate actual tank-to-wake emission factors, deviating from those defined in Annex II, should be made available to companies, provided that such calculation is determined in accordance with and supported by recognised international standards relevant for the subject matter. Such calculation of tank-to-wake emission factors should be primarily scoped to laboratory testing or direct emissions measurement of slipped emissions from energy converters, including internal combustion engines, fuel cells and associated reforming units, gas turbines or boilers. Since actual tank-to-wake CO2 emission factors are related to the fuel composition rather than the energy converter, they should not be different from the default values contained in Annex II. Those tank-to-wake emission factors should only be recalculated, in particular for synthetic fuels or biofuels, in the event that any relevant international standard is developed to that effect. It should not be possible to deviate from the default values presented for the CO2 combustion emission factors for fossil fuels.

(53)

Verification activities are carried out by verifiers. In order to ensure impartiality and effectiveness, verifiers should be independent and competent legal entities and should be accredited by national accreditation bodies established pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17). Verifiers should be equipped with means and staff commensurate with the size of the fleet for which they perform verification activities under this Regulation. Verification should ensure the accuracy and completeness of the monitoring and reporting by companies and the compliance with this Regulation.

(54)

Based on the data and information monitored and reported by companies, the verifiers should calculate and establish the yearly average GHG intensity of energy used on board by a ship and the ship’s compliance balance with respect to the limit, including any compliance surplus or deficit, as well as determine whether the ship has complied with the obligation to use OPS. The verifier should notify that information to the company concerned. Where the verifier is the same entity as the verifier for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, such notification could be done together with the verification report under that Regulation.

(55)

The Commission should establish and ensure the functioning of an electronic database that registers the performance of each ship and ensures its compliance with this Regulation (the ‘FuelEU database’). The FuelEU database should be used for all most important actions necessary to fulfil the obligations set out in this Regulation. In order to facilitate reporting and limit administrative burden to companies, verifiers and other users, the FuelEU database should build upon the existing THETIS-MRV module or, to the extent possible, should be developed as an upgraded version of it. The FuelEU database should also enable information and data collected for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 to be used.

(56)

Compliance with this Regulation will depend on elements that might be beyond the control of the company, such as issues related to fuel availability or fuel quality. Therefore, companies should be allowed the flexibility of rolling-over a compliance surplus from one year to another or borrowing an advance compliance surplus, within certain limits, from the following year. The use of OPS at berth, being of high importance for local air quality in port cities and coastal areas, should not be eligible for similar flexibility provisions.

(57)

In order to avoid technology lock-in and continue supporting the deployment of the most performant solutions, companies should be allowed to pool the performances of different ships. To that effect, it should be possible to use the over-performance of one ship to compensate the under-performance of other ships, provided that the total pooled compliance is positive. This creates a possibility to reward over-compliance and provides incentives for investment in more advanced technologies. The possibility to opt for pooled compliance should remain voluntary and should be subject to agreement of the companies concerned.

(58)

A document of compliance (the ‘FuelEU document of compliance’) issued by a verifier or, where applicable, the competent authority of the administering State, following the procedures established by this Regulation, should be held by ships as evidence of compliance with the limits on the GHG intensity of the energy used on board by a ship and with the obligation to use OPS. Verifiers or, where applicable, the competent authority of the administering State should record in the FuelEU database the issuance of the FuelEU document of compliance.

(59)

The number of non-compliant port calls should be determined by verifiers in accordance with a set of clear and objective criteria taking into account all relevant information, including time of stay, the amount and type of energy consumed, and the application of any exceptions, for each port call falling under the scope of this Regulation. That information should be made available by the companies to the verifiers for the purpose of determining compliance.

(60)

Without prejudice to the possibility of complying through the flexibility and pooling provisions, ships that do not meet the limits on the yearly average GHG intensity of the energy used on board should be subject to a penalty that has dissuasive effect, is proportionate to the extent of the non-compliance and removes any economic advantage of non-compliance, thus preserving a level playing field in the sector (the ‘FuelEU penalty’). The FuelEU penalty should be based on the amount and cost of renewable and low-carbon fuels that the ships should have used to meet the requirements of this Regulation.

(61)

A FuelEU penalty should be imposed also for each non-compliant port call. That FuelEU penalty should be proportionate to the cost of using the electricity at sufficient level, should have a dissuasive effect as regards the use of more polluting energy sources and should be expressed in a fixed amount in EUR, multiplied by the established total electrical power demand of the ship at berth and by the total number of hours, rounded up to the nearest whole hour, spent at berth in non-compliance with OPS requirements. Due to lack of accurate figures on the cost of providing OPS in the Union, this rate should be based on the average electricity price in the Union for non-household consumers multiplied by a factor of two to account for other charges related to the provision of the service, including, inter alia, connection costs and investment recovery elements.

(62)

The revenue generated by the payment of FuelEU penalties and collected by the administering States should be used to promote the distribution and use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the maritime transport sector and help maritime transport operators to meet their climate and environmental goals.

(63)

While the company should remain responsible for fulfilling monitoring and reporting obligations under this Regulation, as well as for paying the FuelEU penalties, in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle and in order to promote the uptake of cleaner fuels, the entity responsible for purchasing the fuel or for taking operational decisions that affect the GHG intensity of the energy used by the ship could, through contractual agreements with the company, in the event of compliance deficit, be put under the obligation to reimburse or otherwise compensate the company with respect to the cost of the FuelEU penalties resulting from the operation of the ship. That company should be able to, on a contractual basis, request the verifier to calculate the amount of the FuelEU penalties corresponding to the operation of the ship by the other entity during the reporting period. Within this context, operation of the ship should be understood to mean determining the cargo carried, the route and the speed of the ship. Similarly, while the company should remain responsible for fulfilling monitoring and reporting obligations under this Regulation, as well as for paying the FuelEU penalties, companies and fuel suppliers should be able to, by means of contractual agreements, agree on mutual commitments to produce, supply and purchase predetermined quantities of certain fuels. Such contractual agreements could provide for the liability of fuel suppliers to compensate the company for the payment of penalties in cases where fuels were not made available to the company as agreed.

(64)

Enforcement of the obligations relating to this Regulation should be based on existing instruments, including those established under Directives 2009/16/EC (18) and 2009/21/EC (19) of the European Parliament and of the Council. Additionally, Member States should lay down the rules on sanctions applicable to infringements of this Regulation. The sanctions provided for should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. To avoid undue or double punishment for the same infringements, such sanctions should not duplicate the FuelEU penalties applied in a case where a ship has a compliance deficit or made non-compliant port calls. The document confirming compliance of the ship with the requirements of this Regulation should be added to the list of certificates and documents referred to in Annex IV to Directive 2009/16/EC.

(65)

In order to reduce the administrative burden on companies, for each company only one Member State should be responsible for supervising the enforcement of this Regulation. The relevant provisions of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (20) should be applied to determine the administering State in respect of each company. The administering State should be allowed to conduct additional checks on the compliance of a specific ship with this Regulation, for the two previous reporting periods, and should also ensure that the FuelEU penalties are paid in due time.

(66)

Given the importance of consequences that the measures taken by the verifiers under this Regulation may have for the companies concerned, in particular regarding the determination of non-compliant port calls, calculation of the amounts of FuelEU penalties and refusal to issue a FuelEU document of compliance, those companies should be entitled to apply for a review of such measures to the competent authority of the Member State where the verifier was accredited. In light of the right to an effective remedy, enshrined in Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, decisions taken by the competent authorities under this Regulation should be subject to review by a court of the Member State of that competent authority, carried out in accordance with its national law.

(67)

In order to maintain a level playing field through the efficient functioning of this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of: amendment of the list of well-to-wake emission factors; information about the RFNBO subtarget; amending the existing table set out in Annex III by adding other zero-emission technologies; establishment of further methods and criteria of accreditation of verifiers; adaptation of a FuelEU penalty factor based on the developments in the cost of energy; and amendment of the numerical factor amount of the FuelEU penalty, based on the indexation of the average cost of electricity in the Union. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (21). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(68)

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (22). The Commission should take into account the possibility of reusing information and data collected for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 when it establishes, by means of implementing acts, the list of neighbouring container transhipment ports excluded from the definition of ports of call; the criteria for assessment of the production capacity and availability of RFNBO in the maritime transport sector and the method to calculate the factor of price difference between RFNBO and fossil fuels; the specification of rules for the application of the RFNBO subtarget, if applicable; the detailed criteria for acceptance of the technologies and the way they are operated to be considered as zero-emission technologies; the information from ships intending to connect to OPS or use a zero-emission technology in ports and the procedure for providing such information; the templates for standardised monitoring plans, including the technical rules for their uniform application; the list of international standards and certification references to demonstrate actual tank-to-wake emission factors; further specifications of the rules for verification activities referred to in this Regulation; rules for access rights to and the functional and technical specifications of the FuelEU database; and models for the FuelEU document of compliance.

(69)

Given the international dimension of the maritime transport sector, a global approach to limiting the GHG intensity of the energy used by ships is preferable as such an approach would be significantly more effective due to its broader scope. In that context, and with a view to facilitating the development of international rules within the IMO, the Commission should share relevant information on the implementation of this Regulation with the IMO and other relevant international bodies, and relevant submissions should be made to the IMO, continuing the Union’s efforts to promote ambitious maritime decarbonisation targets at an international level. Where an agreement on a global approach is reached on matters of relevance to this Regulation, the Commission should review this Regulation with a view to aligning it, where appropriate, with the international rules.

(70)

The Commission should ensure implementation and availability of tools for collaboration and exchange of best practices for the maritime transport sector, as defined in the Commission Staff Working Document entitled ‘Better Regulation Guidelines’.

(71)

Given that this Regulation will result in additional adjustment costs and administrative costs, the overall regulatory burden for the maritime transport sector should be kept under close review. To that end, the Commission should present a report to the European Parliament and to the Council evaluating the functioning of this Regulation. The Commission should assess in that report the extent to which the objectives of this Regulation have been met and to which extent it has impacted the competitiveness of the sector. That report should also cover the interaction of this Regulation with other relevant Union legal acts, including possible actions and measures that have been or could be taken to reduce the total cost pressure on the maritime transport sector.

(72)

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels and substitute sources of energy by ships arriving at, staying within or departing from ports under the jurisdiction of a Member State across the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States without risking to introduce barriers to the internal market and distortions of competition between ports and between maritime transport operators, but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved by introducing uniform rules at Union level that create economic incentives for maritime operators to continue operating unimpededly while meeting obligations on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,