EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 14.7.2021

SWD(2021) 638 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION

of Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure

accompanying the

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council

on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, and repealing Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council

{COM(2021) 559 final} - {SEC(2021) 560 final} - {SWD(2021) 631 final} - {SWD(2021) 632 final} - {SWD(2021) 637 final}

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive was adopted in order to establish a common framework of measures to support roll-out of public accessible alternative fuels infrastructure in the EU. It should support a sufficient network of recharging and refuelling infrastructure, interoperability of infrastructure, adequate consumer information and effective vehicle integration into electricity grids.

Main findings

Effectiveness: the Directive has been slightly effective in achieving its objectives, namely by triggering policy action at the level of Member States. Through the Directive and delegated acts under that Directive, technical specifications on recharging and refuelling infrastructure were adopted early on that helped to provide certainty to investment into alternative fuels vehicles and infrastructures. Particularly relevant in this context was the adoption of a common standard for a recharging plug for electric vehicles that helped long-term market certainty. Consequently, the Directive has had a certain positive impact on the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles and their infrastructure.

Efficiency: the cost of the Directive have been proportional to the benefits of the implementation of the Directive and the evaluation did not find any indication that there would have been a largely more cost-efficient approach possible for delivering the same outcomes.

Relevance: the Directive is highly relevant especially considering the EU’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 2030 by at least 55% compared to the previous 40% reduction target. This has a relevant impact on the required uptake of low-carbon and renewable fuels, vehicles and infrastructure. In order to achieve these ambitious targets, the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and the related public accessible infrastructure needs to accelerate significantly in all market segments of light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles but also in other transport modes like waterborne transport and aviation.

Coherence: The evaluation points that there are no real issues with regard to the internal and external policy coherence of this Directive. The evaluation also confirms the continued relevance of the general and specific objectives of the Directive.

EU added value: the evaluation confirms a principal EU value added of the intervention at EU level. Markets for alternative fuels vehicles and infrastructure would have been less developed in a scenario without the Directive. This is a general point of consensus among stakeholders. Individual action at Member State level would not have resulted in common market development and related adoption of technical specifications for infrastructure and vehicles.

However, substantive shortcomings of the current policy framework are also visible:

·With regard to establishing a sufficient network of alternative fuels infrastructure, Member States actions do not sum up to a comprehensive common framework of measures across the EU. The absence of a detailed and binding methodology for Member States to calculate targets and adopt measures has led to the identified divergence in the level of ambition in target setting and supporting policies in Member States.

·With regard to establishing full interoperability of infrastructure, the evaluation points out that important aspects are not well covered under the current Directive, including interoperability of infrastructure for recharging and refuelling heavy-duty use vehicles as well as important aspects of user services.

·With regard to adequate consumer information and payment services, there is lack of pervasive high quality of information to customers about the location, availability and use conditions of infrastructure. Moreover, there is a plethora of approaches to finding, accessing, using and paying, particularly in the case of recharging points, which is leading to continued customer concerns. Particular points of concerns are information on availability, price transparency and payment services.

The current implementation practice shows a strong link between vehicle demand and infrastructure provision. However, infrastructure provision takes time and requires policy direction. The current fragmentation of the internal market, where alternative fuels infrastructure take up is driven mainly by a handful of key Member States, is not future-proof in view of the expected rapid acceleration of vehicle take up in the years to come. The evaluation finds that the current Directive is not fit for purpose in view of the increased policy ambition for cutting transport emissions by 2030 and finally 2050.

The evaluation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive confirms the need for strengthening of the policy framework at EU level for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure to meet the increased climate ambition of the EU for 2030 and the needs of the transition to climate neutrality by 2050.