The Member States discussed the latest version of the French EU Council Presidency’s compromise text on the deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels (‘AFIR’) (see EUROPE 12949/4) at a meeting of the Council of the EU’s Working Party on Transport - Intermodal Questions and Networks on 11 May.
The new version of the compromise document firstly sets 2025 as the starting date for the gradual deployment of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles with a view to achieving comprehensive coverage of the entire trans-European transport network (TEN-T) by 2030.
This deadline, the text states, would allow for better consideration of the time needed for the planning, design and implementation of charging infrastructure, including in particular “the extension or upgrading of the electricity network in certain areas, land acquisition, environmental authorisations and/or public procurement”.
Still on the subject of electric vehicles, the text clarifies the geographical coverage obligations. Thus, all electric charging stations along the TEN-T should be located either on the TEN-T or within 2 kilometres of the nearest exit from one of the network’s routes for light vehicles.
For heavy vehicles, these stations should be located along the TEN-T or within 3 kilometres of the nearest exit from a TEN-T road.
The text also insists that publicly accessible charging infrastructure for night-time charging should also be available for heavy vehicles within the core TEN-T, in order to “specifically support the electrification of the long-distance sector”.
In addition, the French Presidency of the EU Council is putting forward the idea that, in order to avoid “disproportionate” investments in the case of lower traffic volumes, charging stations should be able to serve both directions of traffic on a route or that the power distributed to the stations should be reduced.
For hydrogen vehicles, the compromise document states that Member States will have to analyse “the best location for refuelling stations” in or near urban areas.
The deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure also concerns the maritime sector. In this respect, the text introduces several provisions for the specific territories of certain Member States, such as Ceuta and Melilla. Due to the low energy production capacity, the text proposes to exempt certain islands, regions or territories from shore-side charging requirements, “until an electrical connection with the mainland or neighbouring countries has been made or sufficient local production capacity from clean energy sources exists”.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/1r2 (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)