Members of the EU Council Working Party on Aviation will work on Tuesday 10 May on the latest version of the French Presidency of the EU Council’s compromise text on the deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) (‘ReFuelEU Aviation’) (see EUROPE 12941/16).
In concrete terms, the text first specifies - as it does not provide for a maximum share of SAF in the aviation fuel mix - that airlines and fuel suppliers should have the possibility to set more ambitious targets, by providing more SAF throughout their operating network.
Similarly, Member States could also set higher minimum thresholds than those provided for in the Regulation, for a limited period of time, at one or more airports on their national territory. This would only be possible if the minimum threshold was reached in the previous reference period.
However, the text says, the Commission should adopt a decision requiring Member States to suspend the application of the higher minimum shares where the distribution of synthetic aviation fuels at all EU airports cannot be ensured due to a structural lack of production or supply.
Some possible exemptions for aircraft operators
The latest version of the compromise text also includes the possibility to exempt, for a limited period of time, aircraft operators from the pre-departure refuelling obligation on specific routes of less than 1,500 kilometres from EU airports. This would be possible in cases where such operators encounter “serious and recurrent” operational difficulties in refuelling aircraft at an EU airport, preventing them from carrying out rotation flights within a “reasonable time”, or structural supply difficulties resulting in high fuel prices compared to prices at other EU airports.
An operator’s request on this issue should be dealt with by a competent authority, designated by the Member State, which may request additional information. The decision on whether or not to grant an operator’s request should be taken no later than one month before the date of application of the desired derogation. Exceeding the deadline for a decision would then mean implicit authorisation to apply this derogation.
These derogations could not last more than 3 years, after which they could be reviewed at the request of the operator concerned.
More incentives
The text also calls for increased support for the transition to SAF through incentives, due to “the current lack of a EU market of SAF, the high level of competition between aircraft operators and the important price differential between fossil kerosene and SAF”.
Revenues generated from fines or their financial equivalent should be used to support research and innovation projects in the field of SAF, their production or mechanisms to bridge price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels.
Finally, the text puts forward the idea of a transitional period of 10 years to adapt to the requirements of the Regulation concerning the minimum share of alternative fuels in order to give aviation fuel suppliers, airports and aircraft operators time to make the necessary technological and logistical investments.
During this period, the text adds, aviation fuels with higher SAF content at some airports could be used to compensate for the lower content or reduced availability at other airports.
See the compromise document: https://aeur.eu/f/1jy (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)