Considerations on COM(2021)561 - Ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport - Main contents
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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. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)561  |
| date | October 18, 2023 |
| (2) | From 2020, air transport has been one of the hardest hit sector by the COVID-19 crisis. It is expected that air traffic will gradually resume in the coming years and recover to its pre-crisis levels. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) estimates a growth in Europe of up to 3,1 % per year until 2050 for passenger traffic, and up to 2,4 % per year for freight traffic according to its post-COVID-19 forecast in a high traffic scenario. At the same time, emissions from air transport have been increasing since 1990 and the trend of increasing emissions could return as we overcome the pandemic. Therefore, it is imperative to prepare for the future and make the necessary adjustments ensuring a well-functioning air transport sector that contributes fully to achieving the Union’s climate goals, with high levels of connectivity, affordability, safety and security. The Union has established legal obligations under Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest and to achieve a reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 % compared to 1990 by 2030. In order to achieve this, all economic sectors, including the transport sector, have to take rapid steps to decarbonise. For the air transport sector, this necessitates a strong ramp-up of the production, supply and uptake of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). |
| (3) | The functioning of the Union air transport sector is determined by its cross-border nature across the Union, and by its global dimension. The aviation market is one of the most integrated sectors in the internal market, governed by uniform rules on market access and operating conditions. The Union’s external air transport policy is governed by rules established at global level at ICAO, and in comprehensive multilateral or bilateral agreements between the Union or its Member States, and third countries. It is therefore important that the Union sustains the efforts made at international, multilateral and bilateral level to promote a high level of ambition and convergence in the uptake of SAF, while providing for an international level playing field. |
| (4) | The air transport market is subject to strong competition between economic actors globally and across the Union, for which a level playing field is indispensable. The stability and prosperity of the air transport market and its economic actors relies on a clear and harmonised policy framework where aircraft operators, airports and other aviation actors can operate on the basis of equal rules and opportunities, leading to a vibrant sector and to job opportunities. To a large extent intra-EU flights are part of global itineraries set in a global air transport market. The same is valid for itineraries from non-EU to non-EU destinations through European airports. Where market distortions occur, aircraft operators or airports are put at risk of a disadvantage with internal or external competitors. In turn, this can result in a loss of competitiveness of the air transport industry, putting air transport businesses and jobs at risk, and a loss of air connectivity and transport choices for citizens and businesses. |
| (5) | In particular, it is essential to ensure a level playing field across the Union air transport market regarding aviation fuel, which accounts for a substantial share of aircraft operators’ costs while fostering the decarbonisation of air transport by promoting SAF. Variations in aviation fuel prices can affect aircraft operators’ economic performance and negatively impact competition on the market. Higher aviation fuel prices translating directly into higher end-consumer fares would reduce the connectivity of regions, the mobility of citizens and the competitiveness of the air transport sector and also mobility. Where differences in aviation fuel prices exist between Union airports or between Union and non-Union airports, this can lead aircraft operators to adapt their refuelling strategies for economic reasons. Fuel tankering increases aircraft’s fuel consumption and results in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. Fuel tankering by aircraft operators accordingly undermines the Union’s efforts towards environmental protection. Some aircraft operators are able to use favourable aviation fuel prices at their home bases as a competitive advantage towards other aircraft operators operating similar routes. This can have detrimental effects on the competitiveness of the air transport sector, leading to market distortions and harming air connectivity. This Regulation should set up measures to prevent such practices in order to avoid unnecessary environmental damage as well as to restore and preserve the conditions for fair competition on the Union air transport market. |
| (6) | A key objective of the common transport policy is sustainable development. This requires an integrated approach aimed at ensuring the effective functioning of Union transport systems, taking into account social standards and environmental objectives. Sustainable development of air transport requires the introduction of measures, including economic instruments, aimed at reducing the carbon emissions from aircraft departing from Union airports and developing a market for the production and supply of SAF. Such measures should contribute to meeting the Union’s climate objectives by 2030 and 2050. |
| (7) | The Commission communication of 9 December 2020 entitled ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future’ sets a course of action for the Union transport system to achieve its green and digital transformation and become more resilient. The decarbonisation of the air transport sector is a necessary and challenging process, especially in the short term. Technological advancements, and a clear commitment from the aviation industry, pursued in European and national research and innovation programmes have contributed to important emission reductions in the past decades. However, the global growth of air traffic has outpaced the sector’s emissions reductions. Whereas new technologies, including the development of zero-emission electric- or hydrogen-powered aircraft, are expected to help reducing short-haul aviation’s reliance on fossil energy in the next decades and can play an important role in commercial aviation in the medium and long term, SAF offer a promising solution for significant decarbonisation of all flight ranges, both in the short, and in the medium and long term. However, this potential is currently largely untapped and needs support. |
| (8) | The principle of energy efficiency first has been implemented in the air transport sector. The deployment of more energy efficient engines contributes to decreasing the environmental footprint of flights and also more resource efficient use of SAF. |
| (9) | SAF are aviation fuels that comprise liquid, drop-in fuels, fully fungible with conventional aviation fuels and compatible with existing aircraft engines. Several production pathways of SAF have been certified at global level for use in civil and military aviation. SAF are technologically ready to play an important role in reducing emissions from air transport already in the very short term. They are expected to account for a major part of the aviation fuels mix in the medium and long term. Further, with the support of appropriate international fuel standards, and support for the design of those standards, SAF might contribute to lowering the aromatics content of the final aviation fuel used by an aircraft operator, thus helping to reduce other non-CO2 emissions. Other aviation fuels such as electricity or hydrogen are promising technologies and are expected to progressively contribute to the decarbonisation of air transport, beginning with short-haul flights. This Regulation has the potential to further accelerate scientific development and deployment of these technologies, as well as boost commercial innovation in respect of them, by allowing economic operators to consider these technologies when they become mature and commercially available. It will also increase market certainty and predictability and act as an incentive for the investments in these new technologies that are necessary. |
| (10) | The gradual introduction of SAF on the Union air transport market will represent an additional fuel cost for airlines, as such fuel technologies are currently more expensive to produce than conventional aviation fuels. This is expected to exacerbate the pre-existing issues of level playing field on the Union air transport market as regards aviation fuels, and to cause further distortions among aircraft operators and airports, also in the context of the implementation by the Union and its Member States of ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) in accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2020/954 (4) and EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) as amended by Directive (EU) 2023/958 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6). The availability of feedstock and the production capacity of SAF are limited. An intensified competition for limited feedstock could lead to shortages of supply and market distortions and thereby negatively affect the competitiveness of the aviation sector as a whole. This Regulation should take measures to prevent that the introduction of SAF affects negatively the competitiveness of the aviation sector by defining harmonised requirements across the Union. |
| (11) | At global level, SAF are regulated and defined by ICAO, where countries agree on. detailed requirements on the sustainability, traceability and accounting of certified SAF pathways for use on flights covered by CORSIA. While incentives are set in CORSIA and SAF are considered an integral pillar of the work on the feasibility of the long-term global aspirational goal (LTAG) for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, adopted at the 41st ICAO Assembly in October 2022, there is currently no mandatory scheme on the use of SAF for international flights. Comprehensive multilateral or bilateral air transport agreements between the Union, or its Member States, and third countries generally include provisions on environmental protection. However, for the time being, such provisions do not impose on contracting parties any binding requirements on the use of SAF. |
| (12) | In order to prevent distortions of competition in the global air transport market, that could lead to the loss of traffic flows connecting through Union airports and to carbon leakage and in order to create a global market of SAF, the Union should take a global lead in the shift towards the use of SAF, engage in international negotiations to harmonise definitions and standards of SAF and promote international convergence on the rules concerning the production, uptake and uplift of SAF. The Commission and Member States should sustain efforts at ICAO for an ambitious global framework for the production and uptake of SAF. Furthermore, the Commission should regularly assess whether the provisions of this Regulation have an adverse effect on the functioning of the Union air transport market, the sector’s competitiveness, the international level playing field with regards to air carriers and airport hubs and possible re-routing leading to carbon leakage and, where appropriate, present remedies to address these adverse effects. |
| (13) | At Union level, general rules on renewable energy for the transport sector are set out in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7). In the past, such horizontal cross-sectoral regulatory frameworks have not proven effective to operate a transition from fossil fuels to SAF in air transport. Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and its predecessor set out overarching targets across all transport modes to be supplied with renewable fuels. As aviation is a relatively small fuels market for which renewable fuels are more costly to produce in comparison to other transport modes, and operates in a highly competitive and integrated Union air transport market, the regulatory framework should be complemented with aviation-specific measures to effectively boost the deployment of SAF. Further, national law transposing Directive (EU) 2018/2001 risks creating significant fragmentation in the Union air transport market, where national rules on SAF would set out widely differing targets. This would be expected to further exacerbate the issues of level playing field in air transport. |
| (14) | Therefore, uniform rules need to be laid down for the Union air transport market to complement Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and to deliver on its overall objectives by addressing the specific needs and requirements arising from the Union air transport market and promoting SAF. In particular, the present Regulation aims to avoid a fragmentation of the Union air transport market, prevent possible competitive distortions between economic actors, or unfair practices of cost avoidance as regards the refuelling of aircraft operators, while fostering the development of SAF in the Union. Targeted support and financing at the Union and national levels, as well as public and private partnerships can further complement this Regulation to improve SAF availability and affordability and to further accelerate the supply and uptake of SAF. Moreover, this Regulation should be without prejudice to the obligations laid down in Directive (EU) 2018/2001; Member States can claim the use of relevant fuels covered by this Regulation for achieving the objectives and targets laid down in that Directive subject to the conditions and within the limits of that Directive. |
| (15) | This Regulation aims in the first instance to set out a framework restoring and preserving a level playing field on the Union air transport market as regards the use of aviation fuels. Such a framework should prevent divergent requirements across the Union that would exacerbate refuelling practices distorting competition between aircraft operators or putting some Union airports at competitive disadvantage with others. In a second instance, it aims to gear the Union air transport market with robust rules to ensure that gradually increasing shares of SAF can be introduced at Union airports without detrimental effects on the competitiveness of the Union air transport market. |
| (16) | It is essential to set harmonised rules across the internal market, applying directly and in a uniform way to air transport market actors on the one hand, and aviation fuels market actors on the other hand. The overarching framework set out by Directive (EU) 2018/2001 should be complemented with a lex specialis applying to air transport. It should include gradually increasing minimum shares for the supply of SAF. Such minimum shares should be carefully defined, taking into account the objectives of a well-functioning Union air transport market, the need to decarbonise the air transport sector and the current status of the SAF industry. |
| (17) | The present Regulation should apply to aircraft engaged in civil aviation, carrying out commercial air transport flights. It should not apply to aircraft such as military aircraft and flights used only for operations for humanitarian, repatriation and returns, whether voluntary or enforced, including readmissions, search, rescue, disaster relief or medical purposes, as well as for customs, police and fire-fighting operations. Indeed, flights operated in such circumstances are of exceptional nature and as such cannot always be planned in the same way as standard commercial air transport flights. Due to the nature of their operations, they might not always be in a position to fulfil obligations under this Regulation, as it might represent an unnecessary burden. In order to cater for a level playing field across the Union aviation market, this Regulation should cover the largest possible share of commercial air traffic operated from airports located on Union territory. At the same time and in order to safeguard air connectivity for the benefits of the citizens, businesses and regions of the Union, it is important to avoid imposing an undue burden on air transport operations at small airports. A threshold of yearly passenger air traffic and freight traffic should be defined, below which airports would not be covered by this Regulation; however, the scope of this Regulation should cover at least 95 % of total traffic departing from airports located on the Union territory. For the same reasons, a threshold should be defined to exclude from the scope aircraft operators accountable for a very low number of departures from airports located on Union territory.However, in order to achieve a higher level of ambition, Member States should be able to decide that an airport located on its territory, which does not reach the thresholds laid down in this Regulation or which is located in an outermost region as defined in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), is subject to this Regulation. An airport located on the Union territory that does not reach the thresholds laid down in this Regulation, or located in outermost regions, should be able to request the respective competent authorities to be treated as a Union airport and be subject to this Regulation. Moreover, a person operating commercial air transport flights that does not reach the thresholds laid down in this Regulation or a person operating flights other than commercial air transport flights using aviation turbine fuels should be able to decide to be treated as an aircraft operator for the purposes of this Regulation and therefore to be subject to this Regulation or that its non-commercial air transport flights be covered by this Regulation. |
| (18) | International aviation fuel standards define which types of conventional aviation fuels can be blended or mixed with SAF, which affects the applicability of this Regulation as concerns aviation fuels. Moreover, the definition of aviation fuels is limited to drop-in fuels and therefore includes neither hydrogen nor electricity used to power aircraft. Therefore, obligations on aviation fuel suppliers, Union airport managing bodies and aircraft operators apply to drop-in fuels whenever aviation fuels are referred to, unless hydrogen or electricity is concerned. |
| (19) | It is essential that less-connected European regions, such as insular and outermost regions, that often rely on aviation as the sole means of connection, are not disproportionally affected by the obligations resulting from this Regulation and that access of these regions to essential goods and services is ensured. In order to help to safeguard the air-connectivity of regions with fewer alternative transport options, attention should be paid to the possible effects of the provisions in this Regulation with regards to the affordability, competitiveness and potential price increases of air routes connecting remote regions and other areas of the Union. |
| (20) | Development and deployment of SAF with a high potential for sustainability, commercial maturity and innovation and growth to meet future needs should be promoted. This should support the creation of an innovative and competitive market for SAF and ensure the sufficient supply of SAF for aviation in the short and long term to contribute to Union transport decarbonisation ambitions, while strengthening the Union’s efforts towards a high level of environmental protection. Incentives on the use of renewable fuels of non-biological origin in transport granted under other Union law will have a positive impact on the uptake of such fuels in aviation. A single, clear and robust sustainability framework is necessary to provide legal certainty and continuity for the aviation and fuels industries actors, on the eligibility of SAF under this Regulation. For this purpose, all aviation biofuels which comply with the sustainability and lifecycle emissions criteria laid down in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and are certified in accordance with that Directive, with the exception of biofuels produced from ‘food and feed crops’ and certain feedstock listed in Article 4(5) of this Regulation, synthetic aviation fuels and recycled carbon aviation fuels complying with the lifecycle emissions savings threshold referred to in that Directive should be eligible. In that respect, to ensure consistency with other related Union policies, the eligibility of aviation biofuels, synthetic aviation fuels and recycled carbon aviation fuels should be based on the sustainability criteria and thresholds established in Directive (EU) 2018/2001. In particular, SAF produced from feedstock listed in Part B of Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/2001 are essential, as currently the most commercially mature technology to decarbonise air transport in the short term. The renewable share of fuels produced through co-processing should be eligible under the definition of SAF, as long as the renewable share is produced from feedstock listed in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 with the exception of biofuels produced from ‘food and feed crops’ as defined in that Directive, and of certain feedstock listed in Article 4(5) of this Regulation, determined in line with the methodology to be set out in a Commission delegated regulation adopted pursuant to Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Renewable hydrogen for aviation and low-carbon aviation fuels achieving at least same level of lifecycle emissions savings as synthetic aviation fuels can play a role in substituting conventional aviation fuels and support aviation decarbonisation and therefore should also be included within the scope of this Regulation. |
| (21) | Given the use of feedstock for cosmetics and animal feed, aviation biofuels other than advanced biofuels as defined in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and other than biofuels produced from the feedstock listed in Part B of Annex IX to that Directive supplied across Union airports by each aviation fuel supplier should account for a maximum of 3 % of aviation fuel supplied for the purposes of complying with the minimum shares of SAF to be supplied at each Union airport under this Regulation. |
| (22) | A wide pool of eligible feedstock is essential to maximise the potential for scaling up the production of SAF at affordable costs, while at the same time guaranteeing its sustainability. This Regulation excludes certain types of feedstock unless such feedstock is included in Annex IX of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, and meets all applicable conditions if such conditions are set out in that Annex. The list of feedstock eligible under this Regulation should therefore not be static but should evolve over time to include new sustainable feedstock in line with that Directive. Changes in the list of feedstock in Annex IX of that Directive, fulfilling the relevant conditions of that Annex, should be directly reflected in the list of eligible fuels under this Regulation for the production of SAF. |
| (23) | For sustainability reasons, feed and food crop-based aviation biofuels, including high indirect land-use change risk biofuels, should not be eligible. In particular, 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 and loss of biodiversity concerns. 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, fuels produced from feedstock for which a significant expansion of the production area into land with high-carbon stock is observed. Therefore, feed and food crop-based fuels should not be promoted. This approach is in line Union policy and in particular with Directive (EU) 2018/2001, which limits and sets a cap on the use of such biofuels in road and rail transport, considering their lower environmental benefits, lower performance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential and broader sustainability concerns. 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 also poses risks to biodiversity. Those risks are particularly serious in connection with a potentially large expansion of production determined by a significant increase in demand. The air transport 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 for food and feed crops-based biofuels by promoting their use under this Regulation. The non-eligibility of crop-based biofuels under this Regulation also minimises any risk to slow down the decarbonisation of road transport, which could otherwise result from a shift of crop-based biofuels from the road to the aviation sector. It is essential to minimise such a shift, as road transport currently remains by far the most pollutant transport sector. |
| (24) | Accurate and correct information about the characteristics of SAF is of major importance for the proper functioning of this Regulation. In order to promote consumer confidence and ensure transparency and traceability, aviation fuel suppliers should be responsible to provide the correct information with regards to the characteristics of the SAF supplied, its sustainability characteristics and the origin of the feedstock used in the production of SAF. That information should be reported in the Union database established in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/2001. Aviation fuel suppliers that have been proven to have provided misleading or inaccurate information regarding the characteristics or origin of the SAF they supply should be subject to a penalty. Member States should ensure that aviation fuel suppliers enter timely and accurate information in the Union database and that that information is verified and audited. In order to combat possible fraud, including as concerns feedstock needed for the production of SAF imported from outside the Union, it is necessary for Member States, in cooperation with the relevant Union bodies, to strengthen the control mechanisms for shipments, including on-site audits, in accordance with relevant Union rules. In this respect, the Commission set out implementing rules on sustainability certification in line with Directive (EU) 2018/2001 in order to further harmonise and strengthen the rules on reliability, transparency and independent auditing as well as on cooperation of competent authorities of the Member States in audit supervision. |
| (25) | The present Regulation should aim at ensuring that aircraft operators can compete on the basis of equal opportunities as regards the access to SAF. To avoid any distortions on the Union air transport market, all Union airports should be supplied with uniform minimum shares of SAF. Whereas the market is free to supply and use larger quantities of SAF, this Regulation should ensure that the mandatory minimum shares of SAF are identical across all Union airports. In order to ensure clarity and legal certainty and in doing so encourage market development and deployment of the most sustainable and innovative aviation fuel technologies with growth potential to meet future needs, this Regulation should set out gradually increasing minimum shares of SAF, including of synthetic aviation fuels over time. Setting out dedicated minimum shares on synthetic aviation fuels as part of the minimum shares of SAF is necessary in view of the significant decarbonisation potential of such aviation fuels, and in view of their current estimated production costs. When produced from renewable electricity and carbon captured directly from the air, synthetic aviation fuels can achieve as much as 100 % emissions savings compared to conventional aviation fuel. They also have notable advantages compared to other types of SAF with regards to resource efficiency (in particular for water needs) of the production process. However, synthetic aviation fuels’ production costs are currently estimated at three to six times higher than the market price of conventional aviation fuel. Therefore, this Regulation should establish dedicated minimum shares for this technology. |
| (26) | While ensuring the achievement of these Union harmonised requirements on SAF supply, Member States could pursue supportive policies and initiatives that aim to increase the level of SAF production and uptake, including synthetic aviation fuels. Those policies and initiatives should be transparent, non-discriminatory, proportionate and of a general nature open to all enterprises. This Regulation should not prevent Member States from implementing dedicated measures outside its scope aiming to facilitate the use of SAF or to decarbonise the air transport sector. |
| (27) | Lack of common methodology, criteria and indicators adequately certified, reported and monitored allows aircraft operators to claim levels of emissions performance of their flights that cannot be compared with each other. Passengers need to be able to trust the information from aircraft operators regarding the sustainability of the aviation fuels which aircraft operators use and the sustainability of their flights to make informed choices when comparing between different flight options, both for direct and indirect flights, offered by aircraft operators. In order for consumers to be able to make an informed choice, more robust, reliable, independent and harmonised information is needed on the environmental impact of flights. Therefore, it is necessary to set up the criteria and indicators used to communicate the level of the emissions performance of their flights under a voluntary common environmental label (the ‘label’). It should be possible to update them easily to keep up with technological changes and international and European standards. Since some of the data necessary to calculate the level and quality of the SAF used and other criteria to measure the sustainability performance of a flight might be commercially sensitive, it is equally necessary that an independent body centralises the reports from the aircraft operators, monitors their data, certifies their accuracy and issues a label at the appropriate level. Considering the dynamic nature of data provided by aircraft operators, the label should be subject to periodic control and validation, such as at the end of each IATA season. Whenever necessary, that data would be based on estimations such as the average load factor for a given flight, route and season. Considering that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (the ‘Agency’) has monitoring and reporting obligations under this Regulation, it is appropriate that the Agency be the Union body in charge of the implementation of the label. It is therefore appropriate to provide the conditions for the issuance of the label to measure the environmental performance of aviation and, in order to ensure compliance with those conditions, to require the Agency to review them periodically. |
| (28) | With the introduction and ramping-up of SAF at Union airports, practices of fuel tankering could be exacerbated as a consequence of aviation fuel cost increases. Tankering practices are unsustainable and should be avoided as they undermine the Union’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact from transport. Those would be contrary to the aviation decarbonisation objectives as increased aircraft weight would increase fuel consumption and related emissions on a given flight. Tankering practices also put at risk the level playing field in the Union between aircraft operators, and between airports. This Regulation should therefore require aircraft operators to refuel prior to the departure from a given Union airport. The amount of fuel uplifted prior to the departure from a given Union airport should be commensurate with the amount of fuel necessary to operate the flights departing from that airport. The requirement ensures that equal conditions apply to Union and foreign aircraft operators across the Union, while ensuring a high level of environmental protection. As the Regulation does not define maximum shares of SAF in all aviation fuels, aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers may pursue more ambitious environmental policies with higher SAF uptake and supply in their overall network of operations, while avoiding fuel tankering. Nevertheless, this Regulation should also take into account the fact that fuel tankering at times occurs in order to comply with fuel safety rules in line with Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (8) and in such cases is justified by safety reasons. This may include for example cases of fuel shortage or fuel contamination at the destination airport confirmed by a Notice to Airmen or Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM). Furthermore, fuel tankering can be the consequence of specific operational difficulties for some aircraft operators at some airports, inter alia, in terms of disproportionate longer turnaround times for aircraft or reduced airport capacity at peak times. The Commission with the Agency should therefore closely monitor, evaluate and analyse reported cases of fuel tankering and their underlying reasons and, if appropriate, submit legislative proposals to amend this Regulation. This is without prejudice of the Commission’s and the Member States competition authorities’ power under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU to investigate and sanction anticompetitive behaviour by actors on the market to protect the proper functioning of the market for SAF, in particular, where information contained in the Union database and other data reported to the competent authorities reveal anticompetitive practices. |
| (29) | However, this Regulation should provide for the possibility to exempt for a limited period aircraft operators from the obligation to refuel prior to departure on specific routes departing from Union airports in case those aircraft operators can demonstrate serious and recurrent operational difficulties in refuelling aircraft at a given Union airport preventing them from performing turnaround flights within a reasonable time, which might have an impact on connectivity especially of peripheral regions, or structural fuel supply difficulties leading to significantly higher prices of fuels compared to prices applied on average to similar types of fuels in other Union airports. The significantly higher prices at the Union airport in question should not primarily be the result of the higher use of SAF at that Union airport. |
| (30) | The further uptake of SAF, that typically have lower aromatics and sulphur content, will contribute to reducing the non-CO2 climate impact. A further reduction of the aromatic and sulphur content in aviation fuels could reduce contrail cirrus formation, improve air quality in and around airports, and increase the quality of the fuel for the benefit of airlines, both through high energy density and lower maintenance costs due to lower soot levels. Furthermore, interdependencies between CO2 and non-CO2 emissions should be considered. However, reducing the aromatics content in aviation fuels needs to be done while adhering to international fuel safety rules and while preserving an international level playing field. Therefore, aviation fuel suppliers should report to the Agency and the relevant competent authorities the aromatics, naphthalenes and sulphur content of the aviation fuels supplied. When reporting such information, aviation fuel suppliers could rely on relevant certificates on fuel quality produced to meet the requirements of international fuel quality standards provided by fuels producers and blenders. |
| (31) | In addition to its climate change effects, conventional aviation fuels also negatively impact air quality. Increased uptake of SAF can play a role in improving air quality. |
| (32) | It is important to ensure that Union airport managing bodies covered by this Regulation take the necessary measures to facilitate the access of aircraft operators to aviation fuels that contain SAF, so as not to constitute an obstacle with respect to the uptake of SAF. If necessary, the competent authorities of the Member State where the Union airport is located should be able to require the Union airport managing body to provide necessary information on compliance with this Regulation for the seamless distribution and refuelling of aircraft operators with SAF. The role of the competent authorities should allow the Union airport managing bodies and aircraft operators to have a common focal point, in the event that technical clarification is necessary regarding the availability of aviation fuel infrastructure. When electric or hydrogen-powered aircraft become mature and commercially available and where appropriate, it will be necessary that Union airport managing bodies, aviation fuel suppliers and fuel handlers covered by this Regulation, take all necessary measures to cooperate and facilitate access to the appropriate infrastructure for hydrogen and electric recharging for aircraft, in accordance with the respective national policy framework for alternative fuels infrastructure. |
| (33) | Many Union airports are supplied with aviation fuels principally via pipelines from refineries or SAF blending stations. It is therefore essential that the parties in charge of such pipelines cooperate and take all necessary measures to enable the continued and uninterrupted access of aviation fuel suppliers to civil transport aviation fuels infrastructure to supply both conventional aviation fuels and aviation fuels containing shares of SAF. |
| (34) | Aircraft operators should be required to report yearly to their respective competent authority or authorities and to the Agency on their purchases of SAF, and on their attributes. Information should be provided on the characteristics and origin of the feedstock, conversion process and lifecycle emissions for each purchase and type of SAF. |
| (35) | Aircraft operators should also be required to report yearly on their actual aviation fuel uplift per Union airport, including their compliance with applicable fuel safety rules, so as to prove that no unjustified fuel tankering was performed. Reports should be verified by independent verifiers and transmitted to the competent authority or authorities and to the Agency for the purpose of monitoring and assessment of compliance. Independent verifiers should determine the accuracy of the yearly aviation fuel required reported by the aircraft operators using a tool approved by the Commission. |
| (36) | Without prejudice to the data recorded by aviation fuel suppliers in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996 (9), aviation fuel suppliers should be required to report yearly in the Union database referred to in that Directive, on their supply of aviation fuel, including SAF and its attributes. Information should be provided on the characteristics and origin of the feedstock, conversion processes and lifecycle emissions of supplied SAF. Information on characteristics of SAF includes the type of product and raw materials used and other sustainability characteristics required for demonstrating compliance of SAF with the sustainability criteria under Directive (EU) 2018/2001. |
| (37) | Member States should designate a competent authority or authorities responsible for enforcing the application of this Regulation upon aircraft operators, Union airports managing bodies and aviation fuel suppliers. This Regulation should define the rules for the attribution of aircraft operators, Union airport managing bodies and aviation fuel suppliers to competent authorities. The Agency should send to the competent authorities data aggregated for the aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers for which these authorities are competent. As far as possible, the level of aggregation should make it possible for the competent authorities to compare that aggregated data with other data sources. |
| (38) | The Agency should publish a technical report on a yearly basis and forward it to the European Parliament and to the Council. This is necessary in order to provide clear visibility on the implementation of this Regulation, on the purchase and supply of SAF in the Union and in the relevant third countries, on the state of market, including information on the evolution of the price gap between SAF and fossil fuels, and on the composition of aviation fuel. |
| (39) | Without additional procedures, it is not possible to determine accurately whether aircraft operators have physically uplifted shares of SAF in their tanks at specific Union airports. Therefore, aircraft operators should be allowed to report on their use of SAF based on purchasing records. Aircraft operators should be entitled to receive from the aviation fuel supplier the information that is necessary to report on the SAF purchase. The purpose of using the mass balance system referred to in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 is to ensure the traceability of aviation fuels, and aviation fuel suppliers may demonstrate compliance with this Regulation by using such a mass balance system, including when such a system is shared between two or more Member States. |
| (40) | The introduction in the Union of a mandate on the uptake of SAF could lead to an undue competitive disadvantage for Union airlines that operate direct long-haul flights from a Union airport in comparison with their competitors that connect via an airport hub outside the scope of this Regulation without equivalent SAF policies. In order to further promote the uptake of SAF in the Union, for which prices are projected to have a substantial price difference compared to conventional aviation fuels in the foreseeable future, aircraft operators should be able to claim allowances for the uplifting of SAF in accordance with the EU ETS. |
| (41) | In order to promote the uptake of SAF that are projected to have a substantial price difference compared to conventional aviation fuels, it is essential that aircraft operators are able to claim the use of SAF under greenhouse gas schemes such as the EU ETS or CORSIA, at their own discretion, without double claiming the reduction of emissions. Aircraft operators should not claim benefits for the use of a batch of SAF under more than one greenhouse gas scheme. Aviation fuel suppliers should be requested to provide free of charge to aircraft operators any information pertaining to the properties of the SAF sold to that aircraft operator and that is relevant for reporting purposes by the aircraft operator under this Regulation or greenhouse gas schemes. |
| (42) | In order to ensure a level playing field of the aviation internal market and the adherence to the climate ambitions of the Union, this Regulation should introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties on aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators in case of non-compliance. The level of the penalties needs to be proportionate to the environmental damage and to the damage created on the level-playing field of the internal market inflicted by the non-compliance. When imposing fines and other penalties, the authorities should take into account the evolution of the price of aviation fuel and SAF in the reporting year and may also take into account the degree of non-compliance, for example where there are repeated infringements. |
| (43) | The transition from fossil fuels to SAF will play a considerable role in facilitating decarbonisation. However, considering the current underdevelopment of the Union market for SAF, the high level of competition between aircraft operators and the important price differential between conventional aviation fuels and SAF, this transition should be supported through incentives that reflect the environmental benefit of SAF and make them more competitive for aircraft operators. Using revenues generated from the fines, or the equivalent in the financial value of those revenues, to support research and innovation projects in the field of SAF, the production of SAF or mechanisms allowing the price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels to be bridged would contribute to the achievement of that objective. |
| (44) | The fines liable on the aviation fuel suppliers who fail to meet the minimum shares set out in this Regulation should be complemented by the obligation to supply the market with the quantities of SAF, including synthetic aviation fuels, corresponding to the shortfall of meeting the minimum shares set out in Article 4 and Annex I in the subsequent reporting period. Nevertheless, aviation fuel suppliers should have flexibility in meeting the obligations with respect to the supply of synthetic aviation fuels and the related shortfall obligation in a transitional period between 2030 and 2034, when this obligation enters into force for the first time, in order to facilitate the transition and achievement of the targets. |
| (45) | It is essential to ensure that the minimum shares of SAF can be successfully supplied to the aviation market without supply shortages. For this purpose, a flexibility mechanism should be designed and applied to allow a lead-time of 10 years for the SAF industry to develop production and supply capacity accordingly and to allow aviation fuel suppliers to meet their obligations in the most cost-effective way, without reducing the overall environmental ambitions of this Regulation, as well as to allow Union airports managing bodies, aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators to make the necessary technological and logistical investments. The supply of SAF should start in 2025, with the flexibility provided for in the flexibility mechanism. During the application of the flexibility mechanism, aviation fuel suppliers may supply aviation fuel containing higher shares of SAF in certain airports to compensate for aviation fuels with lower shares of SAF in other airports or for the reduced availability of conventional aviation fuel at other airports. Similarly, in order to provide legal certainty and predictability for the market and drive investments durably towards SAF production capacity, this Regulation should remain stable over time. |
| (46) | The successful transition to SAF requires a comprehensive approach and the appropriate enabling environment to stimulate innovation, involving both public and private investment in research and development and support for the redeployment, re-skilling and up-skilling of workers, as well as technological and operational measures, and the deployment of SAF and of zero-emission technologies, including the necessary refuelling and recharging infrastructure in Union airports, taking into account the energy efficiency first principle. For this purpose, the revenues generated by the fines under this Regulation should be allocated to SAF projects. Furthermore, the setting up of a European Industrial Alliance through a voluntary collaboration of stakeholders in the value chain aims to further foster SAF supply and uptake in Europe. |
| (47) | Research and innovation have played a substantial role in the development of SAF and synthetic aviation fuels and the production capacity building. The development and production of SAF should exponentially increase in the coming years. It is therefore important to continue these efforts and facilitate investment in SAF. Investment into SAF capacity projects present both an environmental and an industrial opportunity, with spillover effects in terms of job creation and innovation. |
| (48) | In order to increase the environmental effectiveness of Union measures and to facilitate the ability of aviation fuel suppliers to meet their SAF supply obligations and the uplifting of SAF by aircraft operators in a cost-effective way and hence to strengthen the competitiveness of the Union aviation sector, the Commission should, after consulting all relevant stakeholders, assess whether further measures should be taken to facilitate the cost-effective distribution and use of SAF in the Union air transport market by separating the purchase of SAF from its physical delivery and use. This could be done, inter alia, by assessing the feasibility of setting-up a system of tradable SAF supply and purchase certificates, with elements of a book and claim scheme, while guaranteeing a level playing field and a high level of environmental integrity, ensuring consistency with other Union law, including Directives 2003/87/EC and 2009/28/EC, as well as minimising the risk of fraud, irregularities or double claiming. In its analysis, the Commission should take into consideration all relevant global trends and initiatives, as well as the potential impact that such a system could have on the functioning of the market, including with regards to any market volatility, price evolution or trading behaviour of market participants. |
| (49) | This Regulation should include provisions for periodic reports to the European Parliament and to the Council on the evolution of the aviation and fuels markets, on the implementation of this Regulation and its impact on the Union air transport market, on connectivity for islands and remote territories and on the competitiveness of Union air carriers and airport hubs in comparison with their competitors in neighbouring countries, the effectiveness of key features of this Regulation such as the minimum shares of SAF, the level of fines or policy developments on SAF uptake at international level. Such elements are key to provide a clear state of play of the SAF market and should be taken into account when considering a revision of this Regulation. The Commission’s reports should also refer to the interaction of this Regulation with other relevant legislative acts, identifying provisions that may be updated and simplified, as well as actions and measures that have been or could be taken to reduce the total cost pressure on the air transport sector. In those reports, the Commission should consider options for amendments, where appropriate, including mechanisms to support the production and uplifting of SAF as well as mechanisms allowing the price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels to be bridged in order to limit the adverse impact of this Regulation on air connectivity and competition and to mitigate carbon leakage. |
| (50) | The requirement laid down by this Regulation to ensure that minimum shares of SAF are made available at each Union airport could incentivise aircraft operators operating connecting flights departing from Union airports with a final destination outside the Union to transit via non-EU airport hubs which are not subject to that requirement rather than via EU airport hubs. This could lead to distortions of competition at the expense of Union airports and operators using such airports and to a risk of carbon leakage. In the absence of a mandatory scheme on the use of SAF for international flights at ICAO level or in comprehensive multilateral or bilateral air transport agreements between the Union and/or its Member States and third countries with a similar level of ambition in comparison with the requirements outlined in this Regulation and the objectives of the Paris Agreement (10), adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or of mechanisms developed at international level to prevent the risk of carbon leakage and of distortion of competition, the Commission should in particular consider the development of targeted mechanisms aiming at preventing those effects. |
| (51) | In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with respect to the exemptions of the obligation to refuel prior departure that may be granted to aircraft operators and to establish the detailed provisions and technical standards for the functioning of the labelling system. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11). |
| (52) | The transition to SAF will also have the secondary effect of reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports from third countries, thus increasing the Union’s energy security. The need for this move is only accentuated by the current international political situation. |
| (53) | Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to maintain a level playing field on the Union air transport market while increasing the use of SAF, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States due to the cross-border nature of aviation, but can rather, by reason of the characteristics of the market and effects of the action, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective, |