Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedIntroduction

RemovedTransport and mobility is the lifeblood of society and an essential part of everyday day life, affecting the wellbeing of European citizens. It concerns all of us. A sustainable, affordable and well-functioning transport sector available to all citizens is the backbone of the EU internal market and of utmost importance to ensure accessibility and connectivity of all regions of the European Union.

RemovedThe European transport sector is currently undergoing a transformation of historic dimensions. Being responsible for over 27 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Union, the sector has a significant ecological footprint. While the Union’s overall emissions decreased between 1990 and 2019, transport is the only major emitting sector whose emissions increased. This negative trend is not compatible with the Union’s transition towards a sustainable society or its climate objectives. It also falls short of maximising the potential of Europe’s industry to be a global frontrunner leading the shift towards sustainable mobility.

RemovedAs outlined in the European Green Deal, the transport sector needs to cut at least 90 percent of its emissions by 2050, making the decarbonisation of the sector key for the Union to achieve its long-term objective of reaching climate neutrality, as set out in the European Climate Law.

RemovedCertainly, decarbonising transports will not come without challenges, but it also offers great opportunities. By shifting to sustainable, renewable and efficient energy solutions across all transport modes, the Union can reduce GHG emissions and air pollution to improve the quality of life and health of citizens, create new high-quality jobs while modernising and strengthening European industry and its competitiveness.

RemovedSustainable alternative fuels and their infrastructure play a key role in this transition. A swift and continuous roll-out of alternative fuels infrastructure is a fundamental prerequisite to support and further boost the market uptake of sustainable vehicles, vessels and transport solutions. It is therefore crucial to have the best possible legal framework in place, to enable sufficient levels of deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, and incentivise investments in sustainable technologies. The investment decisions that will be taken in the near future will be instrumental to put the transport sector on the right path in its ongoing transition and to ensure that it sufficiently contributes to reducing the Union’s GHG emissions by 55 percent by 2030 and to net-zero by 2050.

RemovedCurrent status of alternative fuels infrastructures in the EU

RemovedDirective 2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure entered into force in November 2014, and Member States should transpose the provisions into national law by 18 November 2016.

RemovedThe Directive sets out a framework of common measures for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. Although the Directive has had a certain positive impact on the deployment of alternatively fuels infrastructure, its shortcomings are clearly visible. The internal market is fragmented and a there is a persisting lack of a seamless and interoperable network of alternative fuels infrastructure across the Union. It is painstakingly clear that the Directive has failed to meet the key objective of ensuring a coherent market development of alternative fuels infrastructure in the EU.

RemovedYour Rapporteur is convinced that a stronger and more coherent legal framework is required to enable a sufficient increase in the deployment and market uptake of sustainable alternative fuels, to ensure a fully interconnected and interoperable network across the Union. Without further EU action, the current lack of appropriate infrastructure is likely to impede progress, notably by becoming a barrier to the needed market growth of low- and zero-emission vehicles, vessels and aircraft.

RemovedTherefore, your Rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s proposal to turn the Directive into a Regulation. This is required to deliver sustainable, affordable and well-functioning transports available to all citizens and to meet the increased climate ambition for 2030 and the needs of the transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Your Rapporteur agrees that legally binding minimum requirements for Member States to deploy this infrastructure will give the Union the best possible capability to support the required uptake of alternative fuel vehicles, in all Member States and across all transport modes. Harmonised provisions will ensure the required accessibility to recharging and refuelling stations, facilitating the mobility of citizens in daily life, while also strengthening territorial cohesion and helping all regions in their transition towards a greener, climate neutral future. Furthermore, transparent and fair pricing, combined with uniform and easy-to-use payment solutions for users, are necessary to guarantee full accessibility for all citizens and to make it easier to switch to sustainable transport solutions.

RemovedThe Commission’s proposal is a good starting point in many aspects, but your Rapporteur believes that there is room for further improvement and therefore proposes to strengthen the policy framework as follows:

RemovedDecarbonisation of road transports

RemovedThe decarbonisation of road transports is of paramount importance and zero-emission technologies are developing rapidly in the automotive landscape. To support this development, it is crucial that the required infrastructure is deployed in large scale.

RemovedYour Rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s proposal to introduce mandatory targets for the deployment of publicly accessible recharging stations for electric light-duty vehicles. However, to ensure a rapid, complete, fair and geographically inclusive development of e-mobility across the entire Union, your Rapporteur believes that distance-based targets along both the TEN-T core and comprehensive networks must apply by 2025. In order to fully support and maximise the increasing share of electric vehicles on the market, it is also important to strengthen the fleet-based target through a higher minimum power output per vehicle. This will be particularly important in the short- and medium-term, to ensure a basic coverage enabling users to charge wherever they are driving. Therefore, the power output requirement per vehicle should be linked to the share of electric vehicles in the fleet, with higher output requirements initially which would then digress over time, as the share increases.

RemovedConcerning heavy duty vehicles (HDVs), your Rapporteur believes that targets must be significantly strengthened so as to meet the expected demand from the market. First and foremost, it is imperative that the provisions in place are designed from a user-centric perspective and that they meet the needs of lorry drivers. This means increasing significantly the minimum power output of chargers, to enable drivers to charge up during rest periods and increased capacity for charging stations in safe and secure parking areas. Also here, the proposed roll-out of recharging stations along the TEN-T network must be swifter and more complete than in the Commission’s proposal, in order to support the market penetration of battery electric trucks.

RemovedAs regards LNG in road transport, on the other hand, your Rapporteur does not believe that this fuel has any significant potential to reduce GHG emissions from HDVs. Consequently, the Union should not encourage any further development of this infrastructure, which would risk stranded assets and detrimental lock-in effects in fossil technologies at the expense of sustainable alternatives with a higher potential to reduce emissions. Thus, LNG refuelling infrastructure for HDVs should not be part of this regulation.

RemovedEnsuring user-friendly and accessible recharging

RemovedRecharging of vehicles must be easy, efficient and accessible for all people in society. Therefore, all publicly accessible charging and refuelling stations shall be fully accessible to persons with reduced mobility. Furthermore, operators of charging stations shall be obliged to display the ad hoc price in ‘price per kWh’ before the start of a recharging session and ensure that electronic card payment is always possible. To enable better management of the electricity grid all charging points shall be capable of smart charging, which will ultimately lead to lower electricity prices for consumers.

RemovedYour Rapporteur also believes it is important to improve the transparency and quality of the data which operators of recharging and refuelling stations are obliged to make available. This also includes delegating power to the Commission to set up a common European access point at European level, to facilitate price comparisons between actors across the internal market, as well as setting up an EU-level interface enabling users to access an exhaustive EU-wide map and route planner containing all publicly accessible recharging and refuelling stations.

RemovedHydrogen refuelling infrastructure

RemovedClean hydrogen will be essential to reach the Union objectives under the European Green Deal and to reach climate neutrality by 2050. A rapid technology development is taking place and Europe must harness the full potential of the hydrogen refuelling ecosystem for heavy duty road transport, which will require both gaseous and liquid hydrogen. Therefore, your Rapporteur proposes to increase further the deployment of distance-based refuelling stations for HDVs along the TEN-T network. Member States shall also ensure that an appropriate number of hydrogen refuelling points are deployed for maritime transports.

RemovedSupply of shore-side electricity and of electricity to stationary aircraft

RemovedYour Rapporteur agrees with the Commission’s proposal to ensure that all TEN-T core and comprehensive network airports provide electricity supply to stationary aircraft.

RemovedRegarding shore-side electricity supply, however, the proposal must be strengthened, to further reduce ships’ GHG emissions at berth. Although the technology exists for two decades, few ships in the Union today connect to shore-side electricity supply. In order to further support the increased deployment of this infrastructure and its business case, your Rapporteur strengthens the relevant provisions both in terms of lowering the tonnage limit for ships and by advancing the deployment date to 2025.

RemovedEnsuring compliance and transparency

RemovedYour Rapporteur believes it is of utmost importance that the obligations laid down in this Directive are complied with. Therefore, Member States should take all measures necessary to ensure that the rules are followed and establish penalties for any infringements. Additionally, the framework for ensuring that Member States make progress and meet national targets must be made more transparent and robust.