The Ministers of the Member States of the European Union adopted, on Thursday 2 June in Luxembourg, their common position (‘general approach’) for the inter-institutional negotiations on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) (see EUROPE 12957/18).
While the EU Council’s position remains close to the European Commission’s initial approach, some points have been revised.
Regarding charging stations for electric heavy-duty vehicles, the EU Council opted for a “progressive" “ approach. Due to the state of progress of the market, the EU Council has therefore chosen a strategy focusing on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridors as a first step, with a deadline of 2025. Then, the entire network should be covered by 2030.
In addition, the text maintains the logic initiated in the previous compromise texts of the French Presidency of the EU Council, by opening the way for an adaptation of the requirements in terms of distributed charging power at charging stations on parts of the TEN-T where traffic volumes are low. These adaptations, a source told EUROPE, could consist of a decrease in the total power distributed to certain stations or an increase in the distance between stations.
However, it will have to wait for the European Parliament to decide on its position in view of the future interinstitutional negotiations to see to what extent the deployment of infrastructures - and potential derogations - will take place.
“Some countries are starting from scratch with regard to charging infrastructure. Things may change once the Parliament has adopted its position. It’s not set in stone”, a diplomatic source told EUROPE.
In addition, the EU Council also addressed the issue of hydrogen. On this point, a consensus has emerged among Member States that the focus should be on the deployment of refuelling infrastructure along the core TEN-T and at urban nodes.
Finally, in addition to the inclusion of a clause on a specific review in the short term for heavy-duty vehicles and a review of the whole text in the medium term, the EU Council also provided guarantees concerning payment options and the display of prices at stations for users.
The general approach also adopted for Intelligent Transport Systems
In addition, the EU Council also adopted its position on the development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) (see EUROPE 12956/19), which is intended to take better account of, among other things, connected mobility, mobility applications and the multimodal transport offer.
On this issue, the EU Council’s position gives more room for manoeuvre to the Member States, which could decide on the conditions of implementation of the text in terms of geographical areas, timetable and services to be provided.
Several new types of data have also been added to the list of data that will have to be available to data providers.
See the ‘AFIR’ general approach: https://aeur.eu/f/1xb (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)