EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.CONTEXT OF THE DELEGATED ACT
Data on alternative fuels infrastructure plays a crucial role in supporting the development of reliable information services. These information services provide consumers with confidence regarding the usage of alternative fuels vehicles and infrastructure. Moreover, sufficient and high-quality data enable data users to make informed decisions about market choices, infrastructure planning and investments. For this reason, Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 lays down in Article 20(2) that by 14 April 2025, operators of publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels, or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the owners of those points, should ensure the availability of static data and dynamic data concerning alternative fuels infrastructure operated by them, or services inherently linked to such infrastructure that they provide or they outsource, at no cost.
To ensure harmonised and uniform data exchange, Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 requires each operator of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points for alternative fuels, or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the owner of those points, to set up an application programme interface (API) that provides free and unrestricted access to the data referred to in Article 20(2) of the Regulation, and to submit information on that API to the national access points (NAPs). Operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points or owners of those points can set up these APIs themselves or use a protocol solution for the API developed by relevant market actors, including third-party providers, for this purpose.
Moreover, Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 requires the API of each operator of recharging and refuelling points, or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the API of the owner of those points, to comply with common technical requirements established by the Commission in the delegated acts referred to in Article 20(6). The objective is to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between all operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points and data users.
This Commission Delegated Regulation plays an instrumental role in achieving this, by introducing common technical requirements to promote interoperability, convergence and greater transparency of APIs, based on existing protocol solutions developed by relevant market actors. Any API aimed at fulfilling the requirements of Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 will need to comply with the provisions and technical requirements set out in this Commission Delegated Regulation. These technical requirements should ensure compatibility, scalability, robustness, security and overall alignment of API protocol solutions with Union policies, while encouraging convergence with standardisation development organisations (SDOs).
In light of the above, this Commission Delegated Regulation supplements Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 with common technical requirements to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points and data users.
2.CONSULTATIONS PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF THE ACT
In preparing this Commission Delegated Regulation, the Commission consulted experts from Member States and from Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland through several meetings of the implementation sub-group of the Sustainable Transport Forum (STF) expert group (E03321/4). In total, seven meetings took place between September 2023 and June 2024. Moreover, the general objectives and contents of this Commission Delegated Regulation were discussed in the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Committee (C49500) on 23 November 2023.
Members of the Connecting Europe Facility Programme Support Action on the National Access Point Coordination Organisation for Europe (NAPCORE) were also kept informed. They provided feedback to their respective Member States that participated in the STF implementation sub-group, and to the Commission.
Finally, industry experts were kept informed of the preparatory work on this Commission Delegated Regulation as part of two STF sub-groups: the sub-group on governance & standards and the sub-group on data. The industry experts also provided technical input and recommendations on the state of development of protocol solutions developed by relevant market actors and their technical specifications for the APIs.
The draft Commission Delegated Regulation was subject to a 4-week public consultation feedback period on the Commission's Have Your Say portal. This consultation resulted in a total of 12 responses from a diverse range of stakeholders, including individual organisations, business associations, non-governmental organisations, academic and research institutions, trade unions, and EU citizens.
The feedback provided strong support for the provisions included in the draft Commission Delegated Regulation, reflecting broad recognition of its importance in achieving the desired policy objectives regarding common technical requirements to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points and data users.
Stakeholders proposed the mandate of the Open Charge Point Interfac(OCPI) protocol as the common application programme interface (API) for data exchange. The Commission considered that it is necessary to promote the interoperability, convergence and greater transparency of APIs based on the protocol solutions developed by relevant market actors for the different publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels. For this reason, the draft Commission Delegated Regulation introduces a number of common technical requirements, which should also support technical progress and convergence in view of developing a common API in the Union based on a single European standard adopted by the standardisation development organisations (SDOs). Therefore, it was concluded that no changes were required.
3.LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE DELEGATED ACT
This Commission Delegated Regulation is based on point (b) of Article 20(6) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, which empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to supplement this Regulation by laying down common technical requirements for a common application programme interface to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels and data users.
4.MARKET MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION
To achieve standardisation convergence around a possible single European standard, further information exchange should be encouraged between standardisation development organisations (SDOs) and market actors who are developing protocol solutions with the technical specifications for the API of each operator of recharging and refuelling points or owners of those points. There is also a need for more discussion and exchange of national practices and data use cases, building on the work of the Connecting Europe Facility Programme Support Action on the National Access Point Coordination Organisation for Europe (NAPCORE).
The Commission will monitor technical progress on developing a common API in the Union based on a single European standard adopted by the SDOs. On the basis of this standardisation work, the Commission may amend this Regulation accordingly.
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) …/...
of 2.4.2025
supplementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards common technical requirements for a common application programme interface
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure and repealing Directive 2014/94/EU, and in particular Article 20(6), point (b), thereof,
Whereas:
(1)Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 provides that by 14 April 2025, operators of publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels, or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the owners of those points, are to ensure the availability of static data and dynamic data concerning alternative fuels infrastructure operated by them, or services inherently linked to such infrastructure that they provide or they outsource, at no cost.
(2)In order to provide free and unrestricted access to that data and enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points and data users, Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 requires each operator of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points for alternative fuels, or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the owner of those points, to set up an application programme interface (API).
(3)This Regulation lays down common technical requirements for a common API to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points for alternative fuels and data users.
(4)Operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points or owners of those points may set up the API themselves or use a protocol solution for the API developed by relevant market actors, including third party providers. Such protocol solutions for the API should comply with the common technical requirements for the API laid down in this Regulation.
(5)In order to specifically promote the interoperability, convergence and greater transparency of APIs based on protocol solutions developed by relevant market actors for the different publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels, it is necessary to introduce a number of common technical requirements. Those technical requirements should ensure a minimum of compatibility, scalability, robustness and security to enable an automated and uniform data exchange between the operators of publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels and data users across the Union.
(6)In order to ensure the predictable development of APIs for operators of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points or owners of those points, the common technical requirements should ensure that protocol solutions contain information on the APIs based on a detailed technical development plan that is publicly accessible, for example on a dedicated website, with relevant operational details to inform technical implementation and continuity over time. This requirement should also facilitate access of interested operators of alternative fuels infrastructure to up-to-date publicly accessible documentation and guidelines for seamless integration and usage by data users, including comprehensive training and technical support materials.
(7)The common technical requirements for a common API should also facilitate the technical work of Member States when making the data concerning alternative fuels infrastructure accessible as open data through NAPs in accordance with Article 20(4) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 and Directive 2010/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and in compliance with the additional specifications in the Delegated Regulations adopted on the basis of that Directive.
(8)To anticipate future developments and the implementation of Article 20(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, the common technical requirements for a common API should contribute to the technical set up of the common European access point that the Commission is to establish by 31 December 2026. These common technical requirements should aid in the future operation of the common European access point so that data users can easily access data and compare information on the characteristics of the alternative fuels infrastructure, such as price, accessibility, availability or power capacity.
(9)Article 20(8) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 requires the delegated and implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 of that Article to lay down reasonable transitional periods before the provisions contained therein, or amendments thereof, become binding on the operators or owners of recharging points and refuelling points for alternative fuels. Therefore, this Regulation should apply from 14 April 2025 as that date coincides with the date of application of Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Common technical requirements for a common application programme interface
(1)An application programme interface (API) referred to in Article 20(3) of Regulation 2023/1804 shall comply with the following common technical requirements:
(a)it shall be technically compatible, where relevant, with recharging and refuelling points for alternative fuels software management systems and national access points;
(b)it shall facilitate usability for data users in order to support the development of high-quality information services on alternative fuels;
(c)it shall be scalable and capable of handling growing amounts of real-time data over time;
(d)it shall be robust and be able to cope with errors during execution;
(e)It shall be secure and include relevant protection measures to prevent unintended access to data;
(f)it shall undergo regular testing and validation to ensure continued compatibility and reliability;
(g)it shall be scalable to support integration in a dedicated web portal of a common European access point to function as a data gateway facilitating the access to data referred to in Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804.
(2)Where operators of publicly accessible recharging points and refuelling points or, in accordance with the arrangements between them, the owners of those points rely on a protocol solution for the API referred to in Article 20(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, developed by another market actor or third-party provider, they shall ensure, in addition to paragraph 1, that such protocol solution complies with the following common technical requirements:
(a)it shall contain a detailed and publicly accessible technical development plan with transparent schedules to inform technical implementation and continuity over time;
(b)it shall provide up-to-date publicly accessible documentation and guidelines for seamless integration and usage by data users;
(c)it shall provide comprehensive training and technical support to data users to facilitate the successful development and implementation of information services;
(d)it shall be technically compatible, where relevant, with the architecture requirements of the national access points (NAPs);
(e)it shall be scalable with a view to integration in a dedicated web portal of a common European access point for alternative fuels data.
(3)Where at the date of entry into force of this Regulation, Member States have already prescribed the use of a specific API based on national technical requirements in their territory, such national technical requirements for the API shall apply only in so far as they comply with this Regulation.
Article 2
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 14 April 2025.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 2.4.2025
For the Commission
The President
Ursula VON DER LEYEN