On 28 March the French Presidency of the Council of the EU (FPEU) finalised the latest version of its compromise text on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport (FuelEU Maritime) (see EUROPE 12922/6).
This version of the document focuses in particular on the provisions relating to additional dockside requirements, the governance framework, sanctions, enforcement and flexibility mechanisms.
In addition to working on the definitions of certain concepts, such as ‘port authorities’ or ‘responsible States’, the Presidency’s document also revisits the question of additional requirements regarding zero energy emissions while berthed.
On this subject, the FPEU proposes that the obligation to connect to infrastructure should not apply to ships that cannot connect to the electricity grid when the stability of the grid is threatened or when there is insufficient energy capacity on shore.
In addition, the document suggests an exemption for ships that cannot connect because of infrastructure that is not compatible with the on-board supply equipment, provided that the infrastructure is certified as compliant with the standards specified in the text on alternative fuels (see EUROPE 12899/21).
Exemptions could also be made, for a limited period of time, where the situation requires the use of on-board power generation in dangerous situations or situations posing a risk to life, the ship, the environment or other cases of force majeure.
The text also specifies that from 1 January 2030, the exceptions for ships in ports covered by the regulation may not be applied more than five times in a reporting period. A port call may not be counted in cases where the company proves that it could not “reasonably” have known that the ship would not be able to connect to the on-shore network.
Corrective penalties and verifiers
In addition, the text also returns to the question of verifiers, who are responsible for checking the data provided by companies. The compromise document provides that auditors shall have “at all times the means and personnel proportionate to the size of the fleet for which they carry out verification activities”.
The competent authorities of a Member State, for their part, would be responsible for informing the accreditation bodies of verifiers in cases where non-conformities are found in the verification activities carried out by a verifier.
The text also refers to corrective penalties in the case of problems in the application of the regulation. On this point, the French Presidency of the EU Council proposes that the penalty total be multiplied by the number of consecutive reporting periods for which the company is subject to a corrective penalty for a vessel.
The penalty total should be notified by the verifier to the competent authority of the enforcing State and to the company by 1 May of the year following the reporting period. Corrections may be made to the penalty amounts by the competent national authority, if it identifies any errors.
Companies will have to pay the sanction total at the latest one month after receiving a notification.
Finally, the compromise document also specifies the possibility for Member States to derogate from the regulation if they meet one of the following criteria: no seaports on its territory, no registered companies, the national register of ships is closed, no ship is flying the flag of that State or there are no accredited verifiers. In any of these cases, a Member State wishing to use this derogation should inform the European Commission. The time limit on this has yet to be confirmed. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)