Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2021)561 - Ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)561 - Ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2021)561  |
| date | 14-07-2021 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
A well-functioning and competitive aviation internal market is essential for the mobility of European citizens and for the European economy as a whole. In 2018, the aviation and aeronautical industries employed an estimated 0.4 million people directly in the EU 1 and contributed to the EU’s GDP by an estimated 2.1% 2 in 2017. Aviation is a strong driver for social and regional cohesion that boosts tourism, stimulates business and connects people. In 2018 3 , over 1.2 billion passengers flew to and from more than 500 airports in Europe. The EU aviation sector contributes to European integration and reinforces the EU’s position as a geopolitical leader.
Air connectivity is an essential driver of mobility for EU citizens, of development for EU regions and of growth for the economy as a whole. High levels of air connectivity within the EU, as well as to and from the EU, are best ensured when the EU air transport market functions as a level playing field, where all market actors can operate based on equal opportunities. When occurring, market distortions risk putting aircraft operators or airports at disadvantage towards competitors. In turn, this can result in a loss of competitiveness of the industry, and a loss of air connectivity for citizens and businesses.
In particular, it is essential to ensure a level playing field across the EU air transport market, when it comes to the use of aviation fuel. Indeed, aviation fuel accounts for a substantial share of aircraft operators’ costs, i.e. up to 25% of operational costs. Variations in the price of aviation fuel can have important impacts on aircraft operators’ economic performance. Furthermore, differences in the price of aviation fuel between geographic locations, as is currently the case between EU airports or between EU and non-EU airports, can lead aircraft operators to adapt their refuelling strategies for economic reasons.
Practices such as ‘fuel tankering’ occur when aircraft operators uplift more aviation fuel than necessary at a given airport, with the aim to avoid refuelling partially or fully at a destination airport where aviation fuel is more expensive. Fuel tankering leads to higher fuel burn than necessary, hence higher emissions, and undermines fair competition in the Union air transport market. Besides being contrary to the Union’s efforts to decarbonise aviation, fuel tankering is also detrimental to healthy competition between aviation market players. With the introduction and the ramp-up of sustainable aviation fuels at Union airports, practices of fuel tankering may be exacerbated as a result of increased aviation fuel costs. In respect to fuel tankering, the present Regulation therefore aims restore and preserve a level playing field in the air transport sector, while at the same time avoiding any adverse environmental effect.
The Commission adopted in December 2020 the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 4 . This strategy sets out the objective to boost the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels. Sustainable aviation fuels have the potential to deliver a major contribution to achieving the increased EU climate target for 2030 and the EU’s climate neutrality objective. For the purpose of this initiative, sustainable aviation fuels means liquid drop-in fuels substitutable to conventional aviation fuel. In order to decrease significantly its emissions, the aviation sector needs to reduce its current exclusive reliance on fossil jet fuel and accelerate its transition to innovative and sustainable types of fuels and technologies. While alternative propulsion technologies for aircraft such as powered by electricity or hydrogen are making promising advances, their introduction to commercial use will take a considerable effort and time to prepare. Because air transport needs to address its carbon footprint on all flight ranges already by 2030, the role of sustainable aviation liquid fuels will be essential. For this reason, measures are also needed to increase the supply and use of sustainable aviation fuels at Union airports.
While several sustainable aviation fuels pathways are certified to be used in aviation, their use is currently negligible, for lack of production at affordable cost. A blending mandate specifically targeting the aviation sector is necessary, in order to spur the market uptake of the most innovative and sustainable fuel technologies. This would allow to scale up production capacity and lower production costs over time. Given that sustainable aviation fuels should account for at least 5% of aviation fuels by 2030 and 63% by 2050, it is essential that the fuel technologies supported under this Regulation have the highest potential in terms of innovation, decarbonisation and availability. This is a sine qua non condition in order to meet future aviation demand and contribute to achieving the decarbonisation objectives. This should cover notably advanced biofuels and synthetic aviation fuels. In particular, synthetic aviation fuels have the potential to achieve emission savings as high as 85% or more compared to fossil aviation fuel. When produced from renewable electricity and carbon captured directly from the air, the potential emission savings compared to fossil aviation fuel can reach 100%. As such, synthetic aviation fuels have the highest potential for decarbonisation of all fuels considered under this initiative. Their production process is also particularly resource efficient, notably as regards the use of water, compared to the production of other sustainable aviation fuels pathways. While synthetic aviation fuels could contribute significantly to decarbonise the sector, its emergence on the market in sizeable volumes by 2030 is unlikely in the absence of dedicated policy support. Indeed, the production costs of synthetic aviation fuels are currently estimated at 3 to 6 times the current market price of fossil aviation fuel. As synthetic aviation fuels are expected to play a role in the decarbonisation of the sector already by 2030, and should contribute to at least 28% of the aviation fuel mix by 2050, it is therefore necessary for this Regulation to set out dedicated sub-obligation, pushing their introduction on the market. This is expected to partly de-risk investments in synthetic aviation fuels production capacity and allow the production capacity to scale-up.
For sustainability reasons, first generation biofuels such as crop-based biofuels Feed, and food and crop-based biofuels, which have limited scalability potential and raise sustainability concerns, should not be supported. Indirect land-use change occurs when the cultivation of crops for biofuels displaces traditional production of crops for food and feed purposes. Such additional demand increases the pressure on land and can lead to the extension of agricultural land into areas with high-carbon stock, such as forests, wetlands and peatland, causing additional greenhouse gas emissions. Research has shown that the scale of the effect depends on a variety of factors, including the type of feedstock used for fuel production, the level of additional demand for feedstock triggered by the use of biofuels and the extent to which land with high-carbon stock is protected worldwide. The highest risks of indirect land-use change have been identified for biofuels produced from feedstock for which a significant expansion of the production area into land with high-carbon stock is observed. In addition to the greenhouse gas emissions linked to indirect land-use change – which is capable of negating some or all greenhouse gas emissions savings of individual biofuels, indirect land-use change poses risks also to biodiversity. This risk is particularly serious in connection with a potentially large expansion of production determined by a significant increase in demand. Accordingly, feed and food crop-based fuels should not be promoted. This approach is in line with the relevant Union policy framework, which tends to limit or even phase out the use of crop-based biofuels, for environmental reasons. This is notably the case in the Renewable Energy Directive, which caps the use of crop-based biofuels because of their limited environmental benefits, limited greenhouse gas savings potential, and the fact that such biofuels are in direct competition with the food and feed sectors for access to feedstock. The non-inclusion of crop-based biofuels should also aim to avoid the risk biofuel displacement from the road sector towards air transport, as this could slow down the decarbonisation of road transport, which currently remains by far the most polluting transport mode. The aviation sector has currently insignificant levels of demand for food and feed crops-based biofuels, since over 99% of currently used aviation fuels are of fossil origin. It is therefore appropriate to avoid the creation of a potentially large demand of food and feed crops-based biofuels by promoting their use under this Regulation.
Technologies that are the most industrially mature and at the same time present high levels of sustainability potential, such as sustainable aviation fuels produced from waste lipids (feedstock listed in Annex IX Part B of RED II), should be eligible in order to launch the market and allow for emissions reductions already in the short term. Whereas such a measure is expected to reduce substantially emissions from the transport sector as a whole, at present, the large majority of liquid biofuels are produced for the road sector. Therefore, a shift of feedstock for production of biofuels in the road sector to production for the aviation sector may occur, but would be limited. Indeed, it estimate that the potential displacement for biofuels produced from Annex IX Part B of RED II would be around 3.2% by 2030 5 .
The gradual introduction of sustainable aviation fuels on the air transport market is expected to result in increased aviation fuel costs for airlines. This may accentuate pre-existing distortive practices by aircraft operators, such as fuel tankering. The present proposal for a Regulation therefore aims to gear the EU aviation market with robust rules to ensure that gradually increasing shares of sustainable aviation fuels can be introduced at EU airports without detrimental effects on the competitiveness of the EU aviation internal market.
An essential factor to ensure that the obligation to supply sustainable aviation fuels does not harm the level playing field of the air transport market, is to impose a clear and uniform obligation for all aviation fuel suppliers on the EU internal market. Due to the inherent cross-border and global dimension of air transport, a harmonised aviation-specific Regulation is preferred, over a framework requiring transposition at national level, as the latter could result in a patchwork of national measures with differing requirements and targets. For a clear and effective policy design, obligations on aviation fuel suppliers as regards sustainable aviation fuels should be set out exclusively in this Regulation, which constitutes a lex specialis of the Renewable Energy Directive. As the Regulation sets minimum shares of sustainable aviation fuel, it does not prevent airlines or fuel suppliers from pursuing more ambitious environmental objectives or seeking other economic/financial advantages related to SAF through uplifting or supplying higher shares of sustainable aviation fuels. To this end, airlines should be able to seek to ensure adequate arrangements with aviation fuel suppliers to increase their uptake of sustainable aviation fuels. The Regulation does not include tradability of sustainable aviation fuel use (so-called ‘book and claim’ system). If trading were introduced at any point in the future, it should be governed by robust rules ensuring the environmental integrity of the system.
This Regulation should be accompanied with intensified efforts of the EU and its Member States at ICAO to establish binding targets for the use of sustainable aviation fuels in international aviation, with an EU strategic alliance to strengthen value chain of sustainable aviation fuels production in the EU notably for the most innovative technologies such as advanced biofuels and synthetic aviation fuels, including notably funding mechanisms such as contracts for differences and measures to facilitate the certification of innovative sustainable aviation fuels technologies.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
The present proposal for a Regulation is consistent with the EU’s air transport policy, and in particular with the relevant rules forming the framework of the EU aviation internal market. It pursues the same objectives as Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community, namely to ensure that airlines operating in the EU can compete on the basis of equal opportunity. The proposed Regulation is also in line with Regulation (EU) 2019/712 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on safeguarding competition in air transport, which aims to ensure that all air carriers operating to and from the EU can benefit of a level playing field.
The present proposal for a Regulation is consistent with Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and in particular with Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 of 5 October 2012 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations. The proposed Regulation requires EASA to receive and process reports from airlines, notably on their aviation fuel uplifts. The aviation fuel uplift obligation established under the proposed Regulation should be consistent with the rules on aviation fuel safety as set out under Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.
The proposed Regulation is consistent with the Renewable Energy Directive 6 (RED II), as it is expected to result in an increased use of renewable energy in air transport. The proposed Regulation relies on components of the RED II rules, notably its sustainability framework. RED II is a cross-sector framework that sets targets for overarching sectors. It has been insufficient to boost the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels due to the specificities of the aviation sector, in particular the strong EU-wide and global competitive cost pressure of the sector, as well as the highly integrated and competitive EU aviation internal market and its global dimension. The proposed Regulation lays down fully harmonised requirements to ensure a level playing field between airlines and the avoidance of competitive disadvantage between EU airports.
The proposed Regulation is coherent with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) 7 , which applies to aviation. It is expected to interact smoothly with the EU ETS, which contains an incentive for aircraft operators to use of sustainable aviation fuels, i.e. airlines are not required to surrender allowances when reporting the use of SAF. The effect of the EU ETS is expected to be strengthened in the context of its upcoming revision. The proposed Regulation relies on the EU ETS by making a cross reference to the processes required for the verification of reports by airlines (articles 14 and 15 of the EU ETS).
The proposed Regulation is coherent with the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID), but is expected to have limited interaction with it. The directive creates a common framework of measures for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in the EU. As sustainable aviation fuels are fungible with conventional jet fuel, the needs for additional infrastructure at airports are limited, but it is nevertheless important to ensure that the infrastructure provided is fit for purpose.
• Consistency with other Union policies
The objectives of the proposed Regulation are also in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, namely to achieve 55% of emission reductions at EU level by 2030 and to reach a carbon neutral economy by 2050. It aims to ensure a level playing field among actors of the aviation single market, and gear the sector with robust rules ensuring its competitiveness while it introduces increasing shares of sustainable aviation fuels. This is in line with the EU’s policy objectives of a swift recovery of the hardest hit sectors from the COVID-19 crisis, a strong EU Single Market, conducive to high levels of growth and jobs. Finally, the proposed Regulation is in line with the objectives of transitioning away from fossil energy, towards renewable sources of energy, and to improve the EU’s energy security by reducing our dependencies on third-country sourced energy products.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The proposed Regulation aims to ensure a level playing field among actors of the aviation single market, and gear the sector with robust rules ensuring its competitiveness, while stepping up its sustainability. The legal text will include detailed aviation-specific provisions to cater for the complexities of the sector.
Article 100(2) empowers the Union to lay down appropriate provisions in air transport.
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
Air transport is a matter of high EU relevance, since it is a highly integrated market operating in a network dimension across the whole of the EU and beyond. The cross-border dimension is inherent to air transport, which makes any fragmented regulatory framework a significant hurdle for air transport economic actors.
An intervention at EU level is necessary, as the competitiveness of the EU aviation internal market as a whole cannot be addressed adequately at national level. An EU-level intervention is necessary in particular to avoid a patchwork of national measures with possible unintended effects. Whereas the objective of the proposed Regulation is to restore a level playing field in the air transport market, different levels of obligations per Member State could have the opposite effect and distort further the aviation market, encouraging adverse practices by aircraft operators such as fuel tankering.
Finally, when it comes to imposing an obligation on the supply of sustainable aviation fuels, EU-level action with harmonised aviation-specific rules applying directly to market actors is expected to be more effective than national measures setting different requirements and targets.
• Proportionality
EU-level action is expected to set a clear policy direction for market players from both the aviation and fuels industries. One clear set of EU rules at EU level means that airlines can operate based on equal opportunities across the EU, restoring a level playing field for airlines and airports. It will also give clear signals to the aviation fuels industry on the level of fuel supply and the fuel technologies to invest in. A single set of rules also means reduced compliance costs for market players.
EU-level action on SAF would contribute to achieving the increased EU’s climate ambition as set out in the European Climate Law. The 2030 Climate Target Plan establishes that SAF have a major role to play to reduce emissions from aviation by 2030 and 2050 and attain EU climate goals. Therefore, establishing EU rules on SAF production and use allows taking a “tailored” approach towards meeting the targets. Relying on national measures only with likely different targets (if any) would incur the risk that the aggregated level of ambition is not sufficient. The current initiative can also support the forthcoming review of the Renewable Energy Directive by reinforcing the share of renewable energy in the transport sector.
EU-level action may have positive effects at international level. As EU intervention would have effects on the entire aviation and SAF EU market, it is expected to have higher prominence towards third countries than isolated national initiatives. Spill-over effects are also likely to occur more easily, whereby third countries may consider adopting similar measures. In turn, this could accelerate the ongoing work at ICAO level on the use of SAF. In short, EU action could spur further developments on the production and uptake of SAF outside of the EU, which could help create a level playing field at global level, as well as reduce air transport emissions at a wider scope.
• Choice of the instrument
The present initiative must be rolled out swiftly and efficiently, as a key deliverable of the European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, and as a necessary building block towards reaching EU’s climate goals by 2030 and 2050 by ensuring that the aviation sectors speed up its own decarbonisation without jeopardising the well-demonstrated benefits of a highly integrated aviation internal market. As explained in section 1.4 and Annex 11, this can be achieved most successfully by directly regulating economic actors at EU level through an internal market Regulation. Indeed, common rules applying directly and uniformly to aviation and fuel market actors across the EU will provide clarity and uniformity. As the aviation single market is inherently integrated at EU level, it functions best when rules are applied to all airlines in the same way. Imposing the same requirements to all market players reduces the risks of distortion of competition and sends clear signals to non-EU aviation market actors, when flying in the EU. A uniform set of rules across the EU, as established under a Regulation, will allow to send loud and clear signals to the market. As the transition to SAF requires significant investments, it is indispensable that the regulatory framework provides a single, long-term and robust set of rules to all investors EU-wide. In particular, it is crucial to avoid the creation of a patchwork of differing measures at national level, as would be the case if implemented under a cross-sectoral directive. While this can function with transport modes like road or rail, it cannot be successful for transport modes that are so cross-border and global as aviation. The market scale of most airlines is EU-wide or even global. A patchwork of national transpositions could reduce the effectiveness of the policy and put in jeopardy the effective decarbonisation of air transport. It could also be conducive to different economic behaviours in the aviation and fuel industries from one Member State to another. This could lead to practices of cost avoidance (e.g. via fuel tankering) that would undermine the functioning of the Single Market. The present initiative will have an important impact on air transport actors and the aviation internal market as a whole. It is essential that obligations set on all airlines apply to all airlines uniformly, as can be ensured via a regulation. It is equally important for the effectiveness of this initiative that the fuel supply obligation be implemented and enforced in a uniform way. Differing fuel supply obligations in different areas of the EU (e.g. different targets, varying sustainability standards, etc.) would set differences of treatments between airlines and could induce competitive distortions between EU airports or put EU aviation actors at disadvantage with non-EU competitors. The present initiative should be implemented in a standalone regulation in order to cater for the specificities and complexities of the aviation single market.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
This is a new initiative. Therefore, there has not been any ex-post evaluation and fitness check.
• Stakeholder consultations
This proposal for a Regulation follows a comprehensive consultation that took place over the course of 2020. The Commission carried out a public consultation in March and April 2020 on the inception impact assessment. A total of 121 feedback were received from public authorities, aeronautics and fuels industries, not-for-profit organisations, academics and citizens. In general, the feedback expressed support for EU-level regulatory action to boost the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels. The Commission organised two roundtables (in March and November 2020), each time with sessions dedicated to discussions with stakeholders and Member States, and sessions dedicated to discussions with Member States only. The roundtables allowed to get direct views and exchange with the participants on the need for regulatory action at EU level on sustainable aviation fuels. The first roundtable allowed to gain valuable insights on the problem definition, while the second roundtable focused on the policy options, enabling participants to give their views on their preferred option, and suggesting adjustments in the design of the proposed options. An open public consultation of 12 weeks ran from August to October 2020. A total of 156 replies were collected from public authorities, aeronautics and fuels industries, non-governmental organisations, academics and citizens. In general, the replies expressed support for EU-level regulatory action to boost the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels in the form of a SAF blending mandate. Valuable information was collected on the preference of respondents towards specific designs of this measure. Finally, in the course of the supporting study performed by an external contractor, a targeted consultation was performed, to obtain specific and detailed insights on the functioning of the aviation market, the state of the aviation fuels market, the production of sustainable aviation fuels and the various existing or upcoming policies supporting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. This targeted consultation focused on actors of the aeronautics industry, the aviation fuels industry, Member States, not-for-profit organisations and international aviation organisations.
Throughout this comprehensive consultation strategy, the large majority of stakeholders of the aviation (airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers) and fuel industries, Member States and NGOs supported establishing a SAF obligation as an effective policy mechanism to boost SAF production and uptake and successfully decarbonise the aviation sector. Stakeholders were quite divided on the specific design of the option but a majority of fuel suppliers, Member States, NGOs, airports and part of the airlines support a supply-side SAF obligation with flexibility in the fuel distribution, and covering jet fuel supplied for all flights departing from EU airports. At the same time, the majority of stakeholders saw the need for measures preventing carbon leakage and distortion in the aviation internal market. A majority of stakeholders (airlines, airports, fuel industry, NGOs, Member States) also support specific incentives to support RFNBOs. All these measures were included in the preferred policy option.
• Collection and use of expertise
A study was conducted by an external contractor to support the impact assessment underpinning the present proposal. This study started in July 2020 and was concluded early 2021. The study provided valuable insights to the Commission services notably to design the policy options, assess their environmental, economic and social impacts, and collect the views of the directly impacted stakeholders.
• Impact assessment
The policy options proposed were structured around a regulatory requirement consisting of a SAF obligation. This requirement allows for restoring a level playing field in the air transport sector as regards the uplift of aviation fuel and keeping it while increasing the use of SAF in aviation. Policy options provided different ways to design the obligation. A first set of Options included an obligation on fuel suppliers to distribute SAF at all EU airports. A second set of options included an obligation on airlines to uptake SAF when flying from EU airports (one sub-option covered all flights, the other sub-option covered intra-EU flights only). Finally, a third set of options included obligations on the fuel suppliers to distribute SAF with some flexibility at the start, and on airlines to uptake jet fuel before departing from EU airports. Targets were designed in SAF volume terms for options, and in jet fuel CO2 intensity reduction terms for the others. All options contained incentives to support renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs). The preferred option was to impose a SAF blending mandate on the fuel suppliers and a jet fuel uplift obligation on airlines, including a sub-mandate on RFNBOs. This option was preferred as it allows to ensure a level playing field in the air transport market while scaling up significantly SAF production and uptake.
The preferred policy options allows to maintain the competitiveness of the air transport industry and leads to a significant reduction of well-to-wing CO2 emissions in the aviation sector, i.e. by around 60-61% by 2050, compared to the baseline scenario. Air pollutant emissions decrease by around 9% by 2050 relative to the baseline. Overall, environmental costs of aviation (related to CO2 emissions and air pollutants emissions) are reduced by around €87-88 billion compared to the baseline, expressed as present value over 2021-2050 period. SAF production capacity increases by an additional 25.5-25.6Mt by 2050. SAF emergence on the market leads to a large reduction of aviation’s reliance on fossil jet fuel, which consumption reduces by 65% by 2050 compared to the baseline. The energy security of the EU improves as imports of fossil energy from third countries decrease and feedstock and renewable electricity for SAF production are sourced in the EU (EU-produced SAF represents 92% of total SAF use in 2050). Under the preferred policy options, SAF technologies with the highest decarbonisation potential emerge on the market in significant quantities earlier than without policy action. SAF prices decrease compared to current estimates, which contributes to reducing the price gap with fossil jet fuel over time. The preferred policy options lead to net job creation in the EU, i.e. around 202,100 additional jobs compared to the baseline. Finally, the reduction in air pollution has positive effects on public health (i.e. external costs from air pollution decrease by about €1.5 billion over the period 2021 to 2050, compared to the baseline).
Overall POs C1 and C2 lead to an increase of the costs of €20.3 billion (C1) and €14.6 billion (C2) relative to the baseline over the period 2021 to 2050. These costs are largely driven by an increase in jet fuel cost relative to the baseline, i.e. €103.5 billion (C1) and €88.2 billion (C2), expressed as present value over 2021-2050. The increase in fuel costs is reflected on air fares, which are estimated to increase by around 8.1-8.2% by 2050. Higher air fares lead to a slight reduction in total passenger air transport activity relative to the baseline, despite still growing by 77% by 2050 relative to 2015. This triggers lower capital and operational costs for air transport relative to the baseline, i.e. by €84 billion (C1) and €74.5 billion (C2). Additional logistics costs amount to €0.19 billion (C1 and C2). Airlines also incur an increase in reporting costs of €0.34 billion (C1 and C2) relative to the baseline, expressed as present value over 2021-2050. For the SAF producers, the investment needs over the period 2021 to 2050 are estimated at around €10.4-10.5 billion. Indeed, 104 to 106 additional SAF plants need to be built in the EU by 2050 to cater for the necessary SAF production capacity.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
The proposed Regulation avoids imposing undue burden on economic operators by reducing compliance costs. In particular in the first five years of its application, it provides some flexibility in the way aviation fuel suppliers can fulfil the sustainable aviation fuel supply obligation. This is expected to reduce logistics costs and avoid an increase of sustainable aviation fuels costs. As aviation fuel represent a sizeable share of aircraft operators operational costs, this is expected to have a positive impact on their competitiveness.
• Fundamental rights
This proposal has no implications on fundamental rights.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The budgetary implications are related notably to the review of reports and assessment of compliance of the economic operators subject to obligations, as well as to yearly reporting by EASA to the Commission. These are assessed in detail in the Legislative Financial Statement. IT development and procurement choices will be subject to pre-approval by the European Commission Information Technology and Cybersecurity Board.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
The proposed Regulation includes monitoring, reporting and verification systems that allow to ensure that it is implemented correctly. In particular, aircraft operators and fuel suppliers will be required to report on a yearly basis. Such reports will be verified by independent bodies and assessment of compliance of aircraft operators and fuel suppliers will be undertaken to determine whether they have fulfilled their respective obligations. Further, on a yearly basis, EASA will report to the Commission notably on the compliance of economic operators and on the status of the aviation and sustainable aviation fuels markets. Finally, the Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council, at least every five years after the date of application of this Regulation, the evolution of the aviation fuels market and its impact on the aviation internal market of the Union, including regarding the possible extension of the scope of this Regulation to other energy sources, and on possible need to adjust specific features of the proposed Regulation.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
Article 1 of the proposal describes the subject matter of the proposed Regulation, which lays down harmonised rules aiming to maintain a competitive level playing field on the Union aviation internal market while increasing the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels by aircraft operators and the distribution of sustainable aviation fuels at Union airports. Article 2 specifies the scope of the Regulation. Article 3 provides several definitions of importance to the Regulation. Article 4 establishes the obligation for aviation fuel suppliers to ensure that all aviation fuel made available to aircraft operators at Union airports contains a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuel, including a minimum share of synthetic fuel. Article 5 establishes the obligation for aircraft operators to ensure that the yearly quantity of aviation fuel uplifted at a given Union airport is of at least 90% of the yearly aviation fuel required. Article 6 defines the obligations for Union Airports to provide the infrastructure necessary to facilitate the access of aircraft operators to aviation fuels containing shares of sustainable aviation fuels. Article 7 specifies the reporting obligations for aircraft operators. Article 8 sets out rules on the claiming of use of sustainable aviation fuels that concern more than one greenhouse gas scheme. Article 9 specifies the reporting obligations for aviation fuel suppliers. Article 10 defines the rules on competent authorities to be designated by the Member States to ensure enforcing of this Regulation. Article 11 sets out rules on administrative fines. Article 12 establishes an obligation for EASA to publish a yearly technical report on the basis of the yearly reports submitted by aircraft operators and fuel suppliers. Article 13 creates a transition period of 5 years in which aviation fuel suppliers may supply the minimum share of sustainable aviation fuel as an average over all the aviation fuel they supplied across Union airports for that reporting period. Article 14 defines an obligation for the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council to report on several aspects of the application of this Regulation, at least every five years. Article 15 provides for the date of entry into force of the Regulation. Annex I defines the minimum shares of sustainable aviation fuel, including the minimum shares of synthetic fuel, of the aviation fuel to be supplied, and Annex II provides a template for the reporting obligation of aircraft operators.