On Thursday 15 March, Johannes Hahn, the commissioner for European neighbourhood policy, presented MEPs meeting at their plenary session with the incentive plan for introducing alternative fuel infrastructure. This had been published as part of the second mobility package on 8 November (see EUROPE 11900), which the commissioner now considers an appropriate framework.
By providing up to €800 million to help develop this infrastructure throughout the European Union, Hahn effectively believes that this action plan should help member states achieve the necessary investments in this connection. Although he recognises that the 2014/94/EU directive had not been applied in a uniform way in the different member states, and some of them have also been called out by the Commission in this respect (see EUROPE 11947), the commissioner does not intend to revise the directive and preferred "concerted action" in this regard. "We need better cooperation between the authorities", he added.
Hahn's presentation provoked a mixed response from the MEPs. Massimiliano Salini (EPP, Italy) considered the action plan as "very balanced" and added that they would need to decide in the future whether other initiatives are necessary or not. Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany), on the other hand, regretted that the objectives had not been ambitious enough during the adoption of the directive in question because of the Council of the European Union and said that he was "astonished" that the European Commission had not presented a simple action plan. Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), who chairs the European Parliament transport committee, also took a position in favour of binding measures rather than an incentive plan. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)