COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Towards the broadest use of alternative fuels - an Action Plan on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure under Article 10(6) of Directive 2014/94/EU, including the assessment of national policy frameworks under Article 10(2) of Directive 2014/94/EU
Date: 2017-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: clean technology, electric vehicle, fuel, greenhouse gas, innovation, motor vehicle pollution, natural gas, non-polluting vehicle, reduction of gas emissions, soft energy

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.11.2017  COM(2017) 652 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Towards the broadest use of alternative fuels - an Action Plan on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure under Article 10(6) of Directive 2014/94/EU, including the assessment of national policy frameworks under Article 10(2) of Directive 2014/94/EU {SWD(2017) 365 final}  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION: MAKING EUROPE A WORLD LEADER ON DECARBONISATION 

As called for by the President of the Commission in his 2017 State of the Union Address 
in  September  2017  the  European  Union  (EU)  needs  to  become  a  world  leader  on 
decarbonisation. In order to meet the EU's commitments at the 21st Conference of the 
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris, 
the decarbonisation of the transport sector must be accelerated to ensure that greenhouse 
gas  emissions  and air pollutant emissions  are firmly  on the path towards zero-emission 
by mid-century. 

With its Strategy for low emission mobility1 the Commission has already set out how the 
EU  can  reach  this  goal.  Following  this  strategy  the  Commission's  Communication 
"Europe on the Move: an agenda for a socially fair transition towards clean, competitive 
and  connected  mobility  for  all"  notes  that  the  EU's  ambition  must  be  to  make  rapid 
progress towards a cleaner, more competitive and seamlessly connected mobility system 
by 20252.  

This action plan forms part of a second package of proposals and initiatives, essential to 
decarbonising  the  transport  sector.  Presented  in  the  Commission's  Communication 
"Delivering  on  low-emission  mobility  -  A  European  Union  that  protects  the  planet, 
empowers its consumers, and defends its industry and workers" - COM(2017) 675 final, 
the  second  mobility  package  includes  a  combination  of  supply-  and  demand-oriented 
measures  to  speed  up  the  transition  towards  low  and  zero  emission  mobility  and 
strengthen the competitiveness of the European mobility and transport sector3.  

With  around  95%  of  road  vehicles  still  conventionally  fuelled,  including  renewable 
biofuels blends, the number of vehicles, and vessels, running on alternative energies4 in 
the  EU  is  too  low.  Persistent  problems  continue  creating  market  barriers  to  their use. 
These include a lack of infrastructure for recharging and refuelling vehicles and vessels, 
insufficient  smart  grid  development  and  difficulties  for  consumers  to  easily  use  the 
infrastructure. For the EU to successfully make the transition to  low and zero emission 
mobility, an integrated approach is needed. It requires a common policy framework for 
vehicles,  infrastructures,  electricity  grids,  economic  incentives  and  digital  services 
working across EU, national, regional and local levels.   

This action plan highlights actions to complement and better implement national policy 
frameworks  (NPFs)  under  Directive  2014/94/EU  on  alternative  fuels  infrastructure  to 
help create an interoperable EU backbone infrastructure by 2025, particularly for the 
trans-European transport network (TEN-T) Core Network corridors so that vehicles and 
vessels  can  be  easily  used  across  borders  and  for  long  distances.  Swift  agreement 
between all relevant public and private actors on a common approach to interoperability 
of services is critical to this.  

1   COM(2016) 501 final. 
2   COM (2017) 283 final. 
3   COM(2017) 675 final. 
4   Referring particularly to electricity, natural gas (compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas 
(LNG), hydrogen and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that require specific infrastructure solutions.  

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Future  deployment  of  infrastructure  will  require  significant  public  and  private 
investment.  Blending  of  non-repayable  grants  with  repayable  debt  finance  needs  to 
become  a  standard,  where  feasible.  Different  support  instruments  at  EU  level  need  to 
effectively  work  together.  To  this  end  the  Commission  will  strengthen  coordination  of 
EU funding instruments and strive for synergies with action at national and local levels to 
increase  the  impact  of  EU  funding.  It  will  also  address  other  issues  critical  for  the 
deployment  of  alternative  fuels  infrastructure  such  as  the  integration  of  transport  and 
energy systems.  

2.  WHERE DO WE STAND? 

2.1.  Current situation and needs estimates 

Deployment  of  infrastructure  for  alternative  fuels  has  recently  gained  momentum. 
Important progress has been made in past years, also thanks to EU funding. According to 
the  European  Alternative  Fuels  Observatory,  118.000  publically  accessible  recharging 
points for electric vehicles, 3458 refuelling points for compressed natural gas (CNG) or 
liquefied  natural  gas  (LNG)  vehicles  and  vessels  and  82  refuelling  points  for  hydrogen 
vehicles were available by the end of September 2017.  

The  EU  must  now  accelerate  deployment  in  two  areas:  first  in  the  TEN-T  core  and 
comprehensive network. To this end, the Communication 'Europe on Move' of May 2017 
has set a target for a backbone infrastructure to be in place for the core network by 
2025 the latest.  

Secondly, infrastructure needs to be ramped up in  urban and sub-urban areas, where 
vehicles are being used for most of the time. The Commission expects that, investing into 
these two areas will produce also knock-on effects for the deployment of infrastructure in 
other areas.  

Creating the backbone infrastructure in the TEN-T core network corridors appears least 
challenging. It is estimated that  EUR 1.5 billion will be needed by 2025 to equip the 
corridors5. Gaps particularly concern recharging points for electric vehicles, but in some 
areas also refuelling points for heavy-duty vehicles using liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

Addressing the broader transportation network requires greater efforts.  

The level of ambition between different Member States varies significantly.  

For  example,  only  two  Member  State  provide  more  than  100  recharging  points  for 
electric vehicles per 100.000 city inhabitants6.  

As  regards  natural  gas,  the  actions  planned  by  Member  States  in  their  NPFs  envisage 
adding  2599  to  2634  additional  CNG  refuelling  points  and  256  to  431  LNG  refuelling 
points in 2025, though additional capacity planned under the NPFs will be concentrated 
in a few Member States only.   

For hydrogen, following the Impact Assessment for the proposal for the CO2 standards 
for cars and vans  post-2020, the possible market share  of hydrogen vehicles in  2025 is 

5   Wainwright, S. and Peters, J. (2016) Clean Power for Transport Infrastructure Deployment. Final 

Report for the European Commission. Brussels. 
 These are Netherlands and Denmark, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory.  

6  

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estimated  to  be  between  0.3-0.4%  of  the  total  vehicle  stock.  The  820-842  refuelling 
stations  planned  under  the  NPFs  are  expected  to  accommodate  the  refuelling  needs  of 
0.9-1.1 million vehicles in this scenario7 . 

Analysis of the NPFs under Directive 2014/94/EU results in the following estimates of 
infrastructure  investment  needs  by  Member  States,  including  the  TEN-T  core 
network corridors8:  

  Electricity: up to EUR 904 million by 20209. 
  CNG: up to  EUR 357  million by 2020 and up to  EUR 600  million by 2025 for 

CNG road vehicles10.  

  LNG:  up  to  EUR  257  million  by  2025  for  LNG  road  vehicles.  For  LNG  for 
waterborne  transport,  up  to  EUR  945  million  in  the  TEN-T  Core  Network 
Corridor seaports by 2025 and up to EUR 1 billion in the TEN-T Core Network 
Corridor inland ports by 2030. 

  Hydrogen: up to EUR 707 million by 2025. 

For  electricity  these  national  plans  fall  short  of  the  Commission's  estimates  of 
infrastructure.  For  electric  vehicles,  the  Impact  Assessment  for  Directive  2014/94/EU 
considered a conservative benchmark of 4 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. 
This  represents  a  strong  increase  compared  to  today,  but  still  corresponds  to 
approximately 1.5 percent of today's vehicle stock only.  

A  more  rapid  increase  of  electric  vehicles,  leading  to  a  share  of  7  percent  in  2025,  as 
assumed  by  the  Impact  Assessment  for  the  proposal  for  CO2  emission  performance 
standards for cars and vans post 202011, leads to even higher investment needs:   

  By  2020,  440.000  public  accessible  recharging  points  would  be  needed  -  a 
significant  increase  compared  to  today.12  This  could  require  investment  into 
publicly accessible recharging points of up to EUR 3.9 billion.  

  By  2025,  around  five  times  more  or  some  2  million  publicly-accessible 
recharging  points  would  be  needed.  If  the  share  of  fast-charging  infrastructure 
increases  to  5-15%  of  the  overall  charging  infrastructure,  investments  in  the 
order  of  in  between  EUR  2.7  to  3.8  billion  could  be  required  per  year,  as  of 
2021.13 The majority of these investment needs would fall into in urban areas14.  

7   Considering that each station serves around 1200 vehicles. In comparison, the 256 million vehicles on 

the roads in the EU are currently served by 115.700 conventional fuel stations.  

8   SWD(2017) 365. 
9   NPFs require targets for 2020 only. 
10   Following the total cost for the 937 (2020 versus today) and 1575 (2025 vs today) new CNG refuelling 

points planned to be built according to the national policy frameworks.  

11     SWD (2017) 650. 
12  

It is based on the assumption that 1.1 recharging points are needed for each vehicle. Moreover, 1 out of 
10  recharging  points  will  be  publicly  accessible.  In  addition  to  the  publicly  accessible  recharging 
points, roughly 4 million private recharging points would be needed in such a scenario.  

13   Cost estimates assume cost of EUR 5,000 for regular charging stations and EUR 30,000- for fast-

charging stations, on average. 

14   Assuming that 70% of infrastructure needs accrue in urban areas (alongside the fact that more than 70  
percent of the EU population lives in urban areas) leads to an investment need of EUR 2.7 billion in 
2020. After 2020 and up to 2025, annual investment in urban areas between EUR 1.9 billion and EUR 
2.7 billion could be required. 

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For  national  gas  and  hydrogen,  the  actions  planned  by  Member  States  in  their  NPFs 
and the Commission estimates are congruent.  

Taken together, the total estimated investment needs for publicly-accessible alternative 
fuels infrastructure in the EU amount to about EUR 5.2 billion by 2020 and additional 
EUR 16 billion to EUR 22 billion by 2025. 

To address these significant needs, the public financial support should be used to trigger 
significant private investment, including through innovative financing. 

It  has  to  be  noted  that  any  estimate  of  investment  needs  is  affected  by  considerable 
uncertainties  regarding  the  density  of  future  slow-  and  fast-charging  infrastructure, 
vehicle demand and technology developments (e.g. battery power).  

The  Commission  therefore  welcomes  that  major  European  automakers  have  recently 
pledged to bring a greater number of battery-electric vehicles into the market by 202015. 
It  creates  greater  certainty  for  investments  into  infrastructure.  The  Commission  calls 
upon the automotive sector to maintain and step up investment into other relevant low- 
and zero-emission technologies too.  

In  view  of  the  considerable  uncertainties,  lowering  the  risks  for  private  investors  with 
targeted  mitigation  instruments  such  dedicated  loans  or  guarantees  underwritten  by  the 
public  sector  is  crucially  important.  Furthermore,  clear  long-term  policy  orientation  is 
needed. NPFs under Directive 2014/94/EU have a central role to play in this respect.   

2.2.  National policy frameworks for alternative fuels infrastructure 

Directive  2014/94/EU  requires  Member  States  to  set  up  national  policy  frameworks 
(NPFs)  providing  for  minimum  infrastructure  coverage  by  2020,  2025  and  2030, 
depending  on  the  fuel,  and  to  notify  the  NPFs  to  the  Commission  by  18 November 
2016.16  Pursuant  to  Article  3(1)  of  the  Directive  the  NPFs  shall  set  clear  long-term 
targets  and  objectives  as  well  as  stipulate  adequate  support  measures,  to  provide 
long-term policy certainty for markets. 

As required by Article 10(2) of the Directive, the Commission has assessed the NPFs and 
their coherence at Union level. It has evaluated if the NPFs enable the Member State in 
question  to attain the targets and objectives  it has  set  itself as  required by Article 3(1). 
This Communication reports on this assessment in the parts below. 

The  completeness,  coherence  and  ambition  of  the  NPFs  vary  greatly.17  By  6 
November 2017, only 8 out of 25 NPFs18 fully meet the NPF requirements19. 2 Member 
States have not submitted their NPF until today20. The NPFs are not coherent from an EU 
perspective in terms of the priorities they set and how ambitious they are with regard to 

15    SWD(2017) 366 
16    In accordance with Article 3(7) of Directive 2014/94/EU and observing the conditions laid down in   

 Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Directive 2014/94/EU. 

17   More information on NPFs is available in SWD (2017) 365. 
18   In relevant cases the Commission has started infringement procedures for non-compliance with Article 

3 of Directive 2014/94/EU. It will continue such procedures for notification failures. 
19   Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom.  
20   These are Malta and Romania. 

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different alternative fuels. Member States’ ambition to change the current state of affairs 
varies  a  lot,  both  in  terms  of  projected  deployment  of  vehicles  and  vessels  running  on 
alternative energy and the related infrastructure. Most importantly, only a few NPFs set 
clear  and  sufficient  targets  and  objectives  and  suggest  support  measures.21  1  NPF 
contains no targets. 

Electricity 

All  NPFs  set  targets  for  recharging  infrastructure  for  electric  vehicles.  However,  the 
level of ambition and detail varies considerably among Member States. In planning 
for far less than 200 000 publicly accessible recharging points by 2020, NPFs fall short 
of the Commission’s need assessment presented in section 2.1. Not very ambitiously, 6 
NPFs set targets that have already nearly been reached. Others set ambitious targets that 
will, however, be difficult to reach with the planned policy measures. 

All NPFs set out a broad range of support measures, but uncertainties remain. Either 
the measures have not yet been adopted or they seem too limited to have tangible market 
impacts.  All  but  2  NPFs  set  targets  for  publicly  accessible  recharging  points  and  10 
Member  States  do  not  consider  any  measures  to  increase  the  number  of  publicly 
accessible  recharging  points.  Coverage  of  the  TEN-T  core  network  is  progressing,  but 
parts of it could remain without minimal recharging infrastructure if no additional action 
is taken.22 The roll-out of high-power recharging points at each recharging station along 
the TEN-T core network is a vital need. NPFs scarcely cover shore-side electricity and 
electricity supply for stationary airplanes. 

The  Polish  NPF  is  a  good  example  of  an  analysis  of  the  needs  of  agglomerations,  densely 
populated areas and the full TEN-T network relative to alternative fuels infrastructure needs  — 
including market needs. In Germany, the main motorway service area provider will install high-
power recharging points in all its service stations by the end of this year. In the UK, Highways 
England has undertaken to ensure that there are high-power recharging points at least every 32 
km along 95 % of England’s strategic road network.  

Natural gas 

A  majority of  Member  States  do not set targets for CNG  vehicles. However, a few 
NPFs23 do prioritise the roll-out. Most NPFs lack estimates for future vehicle uptake. The 
availability  of  infrastructure  could  be  a  problem  in  the  future  in  Member  States  that 
currently have a high number of CNG refuelling points compared to CNG vehicles on the 
road but state that they have no plans to support a further increase in infrastructure.24 

There  are  LNG  targets  for  heavy-duty  road  vehicles  in  19  NPFs,  but  target-setting 
and  planning  of  action  is  not  always  appropriate  and  will  not  result  in  the  necessary 
coverage  of  the  core  TEN-T  road  network.  Only  5  NPFs  set  estimates  for  future  LNG 
heavy-duty vehicles deployment. 

21   Moreover, several Member States maintain low taxes on conventional motor fuels, in particular diesel 
(gas oil), compared to the taxes on many alternative fuels, considering the higher external costs which 
weaken the incentive to switch towards alternative fuels. 

22   For more details see the SWD (2017) 365. 
23   Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy. 
24   Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands. 

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A  few  NPFs25  set  ambitious  targets  for  future  LNG  infrastructure  deployment  in 
maritime  and  inland  ports.  However,  several  of  these  do  not  address  LNG  refuelling 
point needs in maritime ports by 2025 and inland ports by 2030. A number of ports in the 
TEN-T core network risk being left without any solution for LNG refuelling. For none of 
the inland waterway TEN-T corridors LNG refuelling infrastructure sufficient to enable 
the EU wide circulation of LNG inland waterway vessels is planned. 

The Italian NPF considers it critical to develop an LNG infrastructure for maritime applications. 
The  plan  to  develop  it,  including  designing  storage  quantities  in  all  14  TEN-T  core  network 
maritime  ports  and  beyond,  is  an  example  of  good  policy  planning.  Several  NPFs  note  the 
significant  part  the  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (CEF)  and  other  EU  funds  have  to  play  in 
supporting the deployment of LNG refuelling for heavy-duty vehicles and ships. 

Hydrogen 

Deployment  of  refuelling  infrastructure  for  hydrogen-powered  fuel  cell  electric 
vehicles  is  optional  under  Directive  2014/94/EU.  14 Member  States  address  hydrogen 
infrastructure  in  their  NPFs.  In  some  cases,  NPFs  contain  ambitious  targets  for  the 
deployment of infrastructure.26 Planning of this kind underlines the importance to deliver 
reliable forecasts for the market deployment of fuel-cell electric vehicles.   

Support measures 

Member States are required to put support measures in place to ensure that the targets 
and  objectives  contained  in  the  NPFs  are  reached.  NPFs  contain  a  very  diverse  set  of 
measures  that  inter  alia  vary  in  terms  of  maturity  and  priority  setting  (one  or  several 
alternative  fuels).  NPFs  also  target  different  modes  of  transport,  for  example,  trains, 
buses, taxis, bikes and shared cars. Most NPFs focus on public transport, underlining the 
role that public procurement can play in supporting market uptake. 

The French NPF lists a comprehensive set of electro-mobility support measures. The combined 
effect of measures like the CO2 bonus-malus system for vehicles and the promotion of recharging 
infrastructure  are  expected  to  boost  the  market  for  electric  road  transport.  The  French  ‘Energy 
Transition to a Green Economy Act’ sets clear targets and minimum procurement mandates for 
the  public  procurement  of  low-  and  zero-emission  vehicles.  The  Dutch  NPF  provides  a  good 
practice  example  for  stakeholder  dialogue,  directly 
in 
implementing the ‘Green Deals’ approach. 

involving  relevant  stakeholders 

2.3.  Are we on the right track? 

The  analysis  of  NPFs  shows  that  infrastructure  gaps  will  remain  in  the  EU  if  no 
additional  action  is  taken.  This  concerns  in  particular  all  types  of  electric  light-  and 
heavy-duty  vehicles.  Relative  to  the  estimates  presented  in  section  2.1.  for  the  NPFs, 
commitment  to  roll  out  publically  accessible  recharging  points  in  urban  and  suburban 
agglomerations  in  the  EU  needs  to  strongly  increase.  Gaps  also  remain  on  the  TEN-T 
core network corridors for recharging points. 

Another  gap  in  planning  concerns  LNG  refuelling  points  for  heavy-duty  vehicles.  The 
NPF targets for the coverage of ports with LNG refuelling points are also not sufficient 

25   Finland, Hungary, Italy. 
26   Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Spain,  Finland, France, Hungary, 
Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Sweden,  the  UK.  The  Danish  NPF  discusses  hydrogen  but  does  not  set 
infrastructure targets. Germany, Italy and the UK have set themselves ambitious targets. 

7 

 
                                                            
for enabling the circulation of inland waterway vessels and seagoing ships throughout the 
TEN-T core network as required under Directive 2014/94/EU. There are similar risks for 
hydrogen:  optional  under  Directive  2014/94/EU  and  divergently  addressed  by  Member 
States,  there  is  still  a  patchwork  of  infrastructure.  To  allow  vehicles  to  easily  travel 
throughout the EU ('continuity of service') infrastructure must be spread wider. 

Overall, the analysis of the situation shows that the NPFs combined do not add up to a 
conclusive  picture  that  provides  the  long-term  market  certainty  that  is  needed.  In 
addition, there is a risk that many of NPF targets and objectives may not be reached, even 
where ambition is low. The Commission Staff Working Document (SWD) accompanying 
this Communication illustrates the limited impact of NPFs on key EU policy objectives if 
no additional action is taken. 

While  higher  emission  reductions  are  expected  for  some  Member  States  with  ambitious  NPFs, 
marginal impacts on the displacement of fossil oil-based fuels are expected at EU level: 0.4 % of 
these  fuels  could  be  displaced  by  alternative  fuels  by  2020,  compared  to  a  scenario  without 
NPFs,27 and 1.4 % by 2030. CO2  emissions from transport could be reduced by 0.4 % (or around 
3.2 Mt) by 2020 and 1.4 % by 2030 (or around 11.5 Mt) compared to a scenario without NPFs. 
The  reduction  in  NOx  emissions  from  transport  as  a  result  of  NPFs  is  estimated  to  be  around 
0.37 % by 2020 and 1.5 % by 2030 compared to a scenario without NPFs. For PM2.5, the NPFs 
would result in 0.44 % lower PM2.5 emissions by 2020 and 1.9 % by 2030.28 These improvements 
could  lead  to  up  to  a  5.8 %  reduction  in  NO2 concentrations  and  a  2.1 %  reduction  in  PM2.5 
concentrations in certain areas by 2030. The creation of jobs building, operating and maintaining 
the infrastructure is expected to slightly increase under current NPF planning. 

To  accelerate  the  transition  to  low  and  zero  emission  mobility,  decisive  action  to 
speed up the roll out of infrastructure for alternative fuels in all Member States is 
needed now.  

This  requires  a  greater  willingness  of  public  and  private  actors  to  invest  into  an  easily 
accessible  infrastructure  for  different  types  of  vehicles  and  vessels.  The  Commission 
stands ready to support these efforts, and therefore proposes this action plan.  

3.  ACHIEVING THE BROADEST USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS: ACTION PLAN 

Actions proposed under this plan can have significant benefits for consumers, industries 
and public authorities, if coordinated well across all relevant levels.  Public authorities 
and  the  private  sector  must  understand  that  they  share  responsibility.  Public 
investment in infrastructure needs to be accompanied by a reliable offering of vehicles 
and vessels to reduce uncertainty about future supply and demand. 

3.1. 

 Spurring completion and implementation of the NPFs 

Member States that have not yet submitted their NPFs to the Commission should do so as 
soon as possible. Member States that have submitted their NPFs are encouraged to take 

27   The scenario without NPFs builds on the baseline scenario of the Impact Assessment accompanying the 
Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for 
the use of certain infrastructures (SWD (2017) 180), thus on the EU 2016 reference scenario. However, 
it  excludes  Member  State  incentives  for  alternative fuels. ICCS-E3M Lab  has  developed  it,  using  the 
PRIMES-TREMOVE model (the same model used for the EU 2016 reference scenario). 

28   For  the  most  ambitious  Member  States  (Austria  and  Ireland),  NO2 emission  reductions  can  reach  7-

10 % and PM2 .5 emission reductions 8-12 % by 2030, compared to a scenario without an NPF. 

8 

 
 
                                                            
into consideration the conclusions of the assessment and the findings of the evaluation set 
out in the accompanying Staff Working Document. 

Those few NPFs that set ambitious targets and objectives, coupled with a comprehensive 
mix of policy support measures, provide an adequate response; others should follow suit, 
as these examples show the largest socio-economic and environmental benefits. 

All  Member  States  are  encouraged  to  collaborate  and  make  use  of  the  Commission's 
support for an effective implementation of the NPFs: 

  The Commission has set up the Sustainable Transport Forum (STF)29 to bring 
together representatives of Member States, the transport sector and civil society. 
Work in the STF on the implementation of Directive 2014/94/EU seeks to ensure 
the effective implementation of NPFs. The Commission invites Member States to 
actively participate in this process. The outcome of its work will be  reviewed at 
an  annual  European  conference  on  clean  transport  and  alternative  fuels 
infrastructure, starting with a first one in late autumn 2018. 

  The European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF),30 the Commission expert 
group  created  in  2013,  plays  a  role  similar  to  the  STF  but  for  the  maritime 
transport sector. It is a platform for structured dialogue, the sharing of technical 
knowledge  as  well  as  for  cooperation  and  coordination  amongst  relevant 
authorities  and  maritime  stakeholders  to  better  address  the  sustainability 
challenges confronting the sector, including the use of LNG. 

  Under  the  auspices  of  the  European  Maritime  Safety  Agency,  the  Commission 
will  put  together  an  EU-wide  non-binding  LNG  bunkering  guidance 
document.  The  latter  should  help  harmonise  the  approach  of  authorities  in 
Member States to ensure that LNG bunkering operations are safe. 

Member States are also invited to consider the following:  

 

If support measures in NPFs are classified as being under consideration or under 
adoption,  the  Commission  urges  Member  States  to  create  clarity  by  swiftly 
adopting or removing the measures.  

  Member States should actively involve all relevant stakeholders in adapting and 
implementing  the  NPFs,  to  ensure  synchronised  roll  out  of  vehicle  and 
infrastructure, integration of transport and energy systems and consumer buy-in.  

  Cooperation  between  Member  States  should  be  intensified  to  guarantee  cross-

border continuity for all types of alternative fuelled vehicles and vessels. 

  For long-term motorway service provision contracts, Member States are reminded 
to  factor  the  need  for  alternative  infrastructure  provision  into  new  service 
provision  contracts.  Together  with  service  providers,  they  should  look  into 
conditions  for  installing  and  operating,  wherever  possible,  infrastructure  under 
existing contracts. 

29 https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/cpt/stf_en. 
30 http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=2869. 

9 

 
                                                            
  To  enable  the  full  circulation  of  LNG-fuelled  vessels  and  ships,  Member  States 
are urged to set or refine targets and objectives as well as to adopt financial and 
non-financial  measures  for  the  provision  of  LNG  refuelling  points  in  maritime 
and inland ports. 

  Member  States  are  encouraged  to  step  up  their  efforts  to  ensure  shore-side 
electricity  and  electricity  supply  for  use  by  stationary  airplanes,  by  removing 
market  barriers  to  these  alternative  energy  supply  sources  and  supporting  the 
deployment of the related infrastructure. 

The Commission invites manufacturers of vehicles and vessels to share information on 
future vehicle and vessel development as well as market forecasts. 

Key actions 

  Member States that have not yet submitted their NPFs are urged do so as soon as 

possible. 

  Where  necessary,  Member  States should reinforce their  NPFs. The Commission 
will  support  information  exchange  and  mutual  learning  about  implementing 
NPFs,  starting  with  a  STF  expert  group  discussion  in  March  2018  and  annual 
policy conferences, with a first edition in late autumn 2018 

  The  Commission  will  consider  how  to  best  reflect  priorities  of  NPFs  in  the 

allocation of EU project funding and in European Semester reporting.  

  Member  States  are  invited  to  closely  involve  all  relevant  public  and  private 
stakeholders in a dialogue to discuss adaptations of NPFs, where appropriate.  

3.2. 

Investment support 

Making full use of the TEN-T network corridor approach 

The TEN-T core and comprehensive networks are crucial for the implementation of EU 
transport policy objectives.  Effective use of the TEN-T approach should be made to 
build up the backbone of EU-wide recharging and refuelling infrastructure by 2025 at the 
latest.  The  corridor  concept  makes  it  possible  to  identify  gaps  in  terms  of  cross-border 
long-distance  mobility  and  to  involve  all  relevant  stakeholders  in  the  planning  and 
execution of projects.  

In this context, this action plan underlines the relevance of the Member States providing 
TEN-T  core  network  corridors  with  a  full  backbone  of  alternative  fuels 
infrastructure by 2025. Related needs and requirements should be taken into account in 
location  planning  and  related  authorisation  procedures.  Equipping  at  least  the  urban 
nodes of the TEN-T core and comprehensive networks with enough publicly accessible 
recharging and refuelling points is expected to boost investor and consumer confidence. 
Recharging  and  refuelling  infrastructure  also  need  digital  infrastructure  for  the 
development of open and interoperable services for the benefit of the consumer. 

The Commission is therefore facilitating the work of key public and private stakeholders 
to  develop  flagship  actions  on  the  TEN-T  networks,  including  alternative  fuels 
infrastructure. These actions will seek to bundle projects and mobilise a wider range of 
actors. The Commission intends to announce these flagship actions in the context of the 
third  TEN-T  corridor  work  plans  by  spring  2018.  Implementation  will  benefit  from 

10 

 
 
collaboration  between  public  authorities  and  other  actors  in  the  TEN-T  corridor  fora. 
Capacity  building  on  the  TEN-T  network  will  be  supported  through  appropriate 
mechanisms under the CEF. 

Key issues need to be addressed: 

  Maximising  synergies  between 

information  and 
communication technologies in relation to both long-distance and urban mobility. 
It  is  essential  to  integrate  the  decarbonisation  of  transport  and  energy  supply, 
smart grids and innovative energy storage solutions. 

transport,  energy  and 

  Fleet  solutions  should  be  promoted  in  conjunction  with  alternative  fuel 

infrastructure on TEN-T and its urban nodes.  

 

In  urban  nodes,  electrifying  railway  lines  could  be  promoted;  where  this  not 
viable  the  opportunity  to  switch  from  Diesel  to  LNG  or  hydrogen  could  be 
assessed. 

  Private  market  actors  should  go  further  in  the  action  they  take.  This  includes 
commercialising  LNG  trucks  by  means  of  fleet  solutions  with  refuelling 
stations, for which the TEN-T could provide the test-bed for scaling up solutions. 

  Given the low market uptake of LNG vessels in the EU, LNG operators could 
benefit  from  jointly  procuring  LNG  vessels,  with  a  possible  extension  to  LNG 
refuelling points. Authorities could also consider setting up SOx emission control 
areas  following  the  International  Maritime  Organisation  (IMO)  process  under 
Annex VI to MARPOL, as stated in Directive 2012/33/EU. 31 

  New  engines  for  inland  waterway  vessels  will  have  to  respect  new  pollutant 
limits from 2019.32 It is crucial to adopt the use of LNG engines. Swiftly putting 
the  necessary  LNG  infrastructure  in  place  along  the  TEN-T  core  network 
corridors  would  help.  Synergies  with  other  modes  of  transport  should  be 
examined,  for  example  LNG  infrastructure  in  maritime  ports  or  for  heavy-duty 
vehicles. 

Member  States  and  regions  are  also  encouraged  to  reinforce  their  use  of  cohesion 
policy  support  and,  in  particular,  the  European  Territorial  Cooperation  ("Interreg") 
Programmes to ensure good coordination and coherence in the deployment of alternative 
fuels infrastructure – not only along the TEN-T, but also at regional and local level. 

31   New provisions for sulphur caps due to enter into force on 1 January 2020 will also have an impact on 
the uptake of alternative fuels, LNG in particular. The Commission recommends that LNG bunkering 
infrastructure be provided in TEN-T core network ports before 2025. 

32   Regulation (EU) 2016/1628. 

11 

 
 
                                                            
Increasing the scale and impact of finance 

Increasing  the  scale  and  impact  of  financing  is  a  key  priority.  Support  from  the  EU 
should  leverage  additional  public  and  private  finance  to  the  extent  possible.  The 
assessment of financial needs and opportunities related to innovative financing will also 
feed into the preparation of the post-2020 multi-annual financial framework.  

Support to alternative fuels is increasingly about deployment of solutions, not only about 
innovation.  Public  money  needs  to  be  used  efficiently.  In  some  cases,  grants  are  still 
needed  to  accelerate  the  deployment  of  alternative  fuels  infrastructure,  especially  for 
cross-border  and  inter-urban  projects  and  for  less  mature  technologies.  In  most  cases 
private finance should be blended with a public grant where the projects will be financed 
mainly by other funds, coming for example from public banks or the private sector, and 
where the grant covers a smaller part. 

Investments  need  policy  certainty.  The  proposal  for  the  post-2020  CO2 emission 
performance standards for cars and vans,33 published alongside this action plan, tackles 
this key market barrier, together with other policy proposals such as the revision of the 
Clean Vehicles Directive.34  

As a rule, projects supported by EU funds should fulfil the requirements of Directive 
2014/94/EU  and  should  reflect  the  priorities  set  out  in  the  NPFs.  The  Commission 
will  use  findings  of  the  assessment  of  NPFs  to  inform  funding  decisions  under  the 
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the Cohesion Fund (CF) and the European Regional 
Development Fund (ERDF). 

The  Commission  will  launch  a  roadshow  in  Member  States  to  review  in  a 
comprehensive way the ambition of the NPFs and the investment needs for low and zero 
emission mobility as well as assess the opportunities offered by different EU funding and 
financial instruments, including in the context of TEN-T flagship actions for alternative 
fuels infrastructure. It will involve all Commission services managing relevant funds, as 
well  as  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  and  national  promotional  banks,  where 
appropriate.  

The Commission will propose an action plan on sustainable finance, providing incentives 
to investors and improving the legal framework and enabling conditions, to attract more 
private  investments  into  green  and  sustainable  projects.  The  deployment  of  alternative 
fuels infrastructure should benefit from such plan. 

Making better use of EU financing support 

Considerable support for alternative fuels infrastructure is available under various 
funding instruments supported by EU budget. 

The  Investment  Plan  for  Europe  is  increasingly  driving  investment  in  the  transport 
sector  and  in  innovation,  including  in  low  and  zero-emission  vehicles  and  related 
infrastructure.35  Horizon  2020  provides  continued 
in  research  and 
development  for  clean  transport,  which  includes  alternative  fuels  infrastructure  and 

investment 

33 COM(2017) 676 final. 
34 COM(2017) 653 final. 
35 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/jobs-growth-and-investment/investment-plan_en.  

For examples see SWD(2017) 177 final. 

12 

 
                                                            
advanced biofuels. Initiatives such as the European Green Vehicles Initiative or the Fuel 
Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking are part of this support. 

The  approximate  investment  mobilised  by  CEF  grant  support  into  alternative  fuels  for  road 
transport to date is more than EUR 600 million supporting almost 60 projects36. The CEF has 
also provided almost EUR 150 million grant support for shore-side electricity supply and LNG 
terminals and innovative technology for greener vessels. 

For the 2014-2020 period, cohesion policy support for investment in sustainable mobility and 
transport is envisaged in 209 operational and European territorial cooperation programmes, with 
a part programmed specifically for alternative fuels infrastructure. Around EUR 70 billion have 
been  programmed  in  CF  and  ERDF  support  for  transport,  including  EUR  35  billion  for  the 
TEN-T  network  and  EUR  12  billion  for  low-carbon,  multimodal,  sustainable  urban  mobility. 
Several Member States and regions are already making good use of cohesion policy support to 
implement their NPFs and deploy alternative fuels infrastructure. 

For  example,  EU  co-funding  from  CF  will  help  realise  procurement  of  177  battery-electric 
buses  in  Warsaw,  Zielona  Góra  and  Świnoujście  in  Poland  or  installation  of  up  to  150 
recharging stations in Latvia until 2020. 

Blending  grants  and  loans  is  a  great  opportunity  to  leverage  public  and  private 
investment. The first CEF blending call launched in 2017 provided EUR 150 million for 
the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructures along TEN-T core network corridors. 
Given the positive response to the call, the Commission has decided to top up its budget 
by  an  additional  EUR  350  million  for  proposals  to  be  submitted  by  spring  2018, 
anticipating leverage of additional investment of at least EUR 1.75 billion. 

This investment can be combined with additional support provided under the CEF Debt 
instrument,  where  up  to  EUR  450  million  are  being  made  available  through  the 
redeployment of the undisbursed revenues from the New Entrant's Reserve (NER 300) 
programme  under the EU Emissions  Trading System, to  support innovative projects on 
renewable energy in the energy and transport sector.  

As a result, an additional EU financial support of up to EUR 800 million from CEF 
and  NER300  is  being  made  available  with  this  action  plan  for  investments  into 
alternative fuels infrastructure. 

36 See TENtec maps at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/infrastructure/tentec/tentec-portal/map/maps.html. 

13 

 
 
 
                                                            
The  first  projects  backed  by  EFSI  and  the  CEF  concerned  investments  into  cleaner  public 
transport  buses  in  Riga,  Las  Palmas,  Palma  de  Mallorca  and  the  Pas-de-Calais  Department  in 
northern France. As part of the Bulles project in Pas-de-Calais, the transport company in question 
will  overhaul  its  bus  fleet,  shifting  from  conventional  fuels  to  hybrid  power.  One  line  will  be 
operated exclusively using hydrogen-powered electric buses. 

The  development  of  innovative  financing  mechanisms  such  as  the  Green  Shipping  Guarantee 
Programme  (GSGP),  supporting  the  European  shipping  industry  in  accelerating  investments  in 
sustainable  technologies.  It  aims  to  provide  guarantees  for  green  shipping  investments  of  up  to 
EUR  3  billion.  It  can  be  used  to  support  investments  in  enabling  the  use  of LNG  for  example. 
The EIB implements the programme under specific arrangements with the Commission. To date, 
two  framework  agreements  have  been  signed  with  commercial  banks  in  France  and  the 
Netherlands. 

Capacity building 

The Commission will further support capacity building in public authorities, companies 
and  financing  institutions.  It  has  broadened  its  technical  assistance  schemes  such  as 
JASPERS and ELENA37 and experience so far demonstrates the relevance of this form of 
capacity building. 

Better collaboration and coordination of projects is needed to create a suitable project 
pipeline  in  the  TEN-T  and  beyond,  with  a  particular  focus  on  urban  areas.  The 
Commission  encourages  public  authorities,  private  actors  and  promotional  and  private 
banks  to  make  use  of  existing  opportunities,  particularly  in  the  context  of  the  TEN-T 
flagship  actions.  For  this  reason,  the  Commission  will  support  platforms  for  sharing 
knowledge about alternative fuels infrastructures, tying into the work of the Sustainable 
Transport Forum (STF). 

37   JASPERS:  http://www.eib.org/products/advising/jaspers/index.htm?f=search&media=search.  ELENA: 

http://www.eib.org/products/advising/elena/index.htm?f=search&media=search. 

14 

 
 
                                                            
Key actions 

  Public  and  private  stakeholders  are  invited  to  finalise  flagship  actions  for 

alternative fuels infrastructure on the TEN-T network by early 2018. 

  The Commission will organise roadshows in Member States starting in November 
2017  to  review  in  a  comprehensive  way  the  ambition  of  the  NPFs  and  the 
investment  needs  for  low  and  zero  emission  mobility  as  well  as  assess  the 
opportunities offered by different EU funding and financial instruments. 

  Together with industry, public authorities are invited to accelerate the roll-out of 
alternative fuels vehicles and infrastructure on the TEN-T network, including all 
urban nodes, aiming for coverage by 2025, with visible impact of action by 2020. 
This will be included in the next TEN-T work plans.  

  Manufacturers,  infrastructure  operators  and  public  authorities  are  encouraged  to 

make use of opportunities for joined-up projects and innovative financing. 

  The  Commission  will  scale  up  its  financial  support  by  up  to  EUR  800  million 
by :  (i)  topping  up  the  second  CEF  blending  call  by  EUR  350  million  for 
proposals  submitted  by  spring  2018;  (ii)  enabling  rapid  deployment  of  unspent 
NER300 revenues through the InnovFin EDP and CEF debt facilities. 

3.3.  Enabling actions in urban areas 

Many European cities and regions are frontrunners in the transition to low and zero 
emission  mobility.  A  significant  proportion  of  public  procurement  is  undertaken  by 
municipal and local authorities. But cities also face unique challenges. Space limitations 
mean that alternative fuels infrastructure needs to be aligned with the infrastructure needs 
of other modes of transport. It is not possible for all users to charge electric vehicles at 
home.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  come  up  with  solutions  for  residential  and  non-
residential  buildings  or  combine  charging  facilities  with  other  infrastructure  (e.g. 
lampposts).  Also,  the  grid  impacts  of  slow  and  fast-charging  infrastructure  have  to  be 
assessed. 

Comprehensive  analysis  of  needs  and  planning  of  policy,  financial  and  informational 
levers  at  urban  level  is  necessary.  Many  cities  have  implemented  sustainable  urban 
mobility plans (SUMPs). The concept has proven its value in bringing together different 
public  and  private  stakeholders  in  urban  mobility  planning.  The  Commission  is 
committed to working with cities on adapting their SUMPs. It will also try to rethink the 
overall  SUMP  concept  to  reflect  alternative  fuels  and  infrastructure  needs  and  discuss 
experiences with stakeholders in the next 2018 SUMP forum. 

This action plan further identifies the following actions: 

  Where feasible, local and regional public authorities should increasingly use the 
possibilities  of  CF  and  ERDF  co-funding  for  sustainable  urban  mobility. 
Projects on alternative fuels and infrastructure offer significant benefits in terms 
of quick market absorption and immediate impact on local air quality.  

  Information  on  urban  access  regulation  schemes  should  be  made  more 
transparent.  This  includes  digital  solutions,  such  as  apps,  for  citizens  and 
businesses. The Commission will continue to closely monitor the situation. 

15 

 
  Charging  infrastructure  in  cities  should  be  made  available  for  all  types  of 
vehicles, including solutions for fleets of shared vehicles, for electrical bikes and 
motorised two wheelers.  

  Local and regional authorities under the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and 
Energy  should  strive  to  include  in  their  Sustainable  Energy  and  Climate  Plans 
measures  aiming  at  cutting  GHG  emissions  from  transport  and  deliver  on  the 
collective estimated reduction of CO2 emissions by 19% by 2020. 

  The  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  are  currently  examining  the 
Commission’s  proposal  for  a  review  of  the  Energy  Performance  of  Buildings 
Directive. Ambitious requirements for pre-cabling and charging points in non-
residential and residential buildings provided for in this text should encourage 
more widespread deployment than at present.   

  The Commission will continue to facilitate the sharing of information in key fora 
such  as  the  Civitas  Forum  and  the  European  Innovation  Partnership  for 
Smart Cities,38 to promote integrated approaches to clean transport and energy.  

  The  Commission  is  looking  into  opportunities  to  promote  fleet  solutions  for 
alternative fuels in urban areas, including the financing of urban projects with a 
focus on alternative fuels under the innovation part of the CEF blending call. 

Key actions 

  The  Commission  will  use  the  next  annual  SUMP  forum  to  work  with  public 

authorities on adapting SUMPS by spring 2018. 

 

It  will  also  look  into  and  adapt,  where  feasible,  funding  for  alternative  fuels  in 
urban nodes, including for fleet solutions, by the end of 2017.  

3.4. 

Increasing consumer buy-in 

The  uptake  of  low-emission  mobility  depends  a  lot  on  consumer  buy-in,  which  is 
facilitated  by  smooth  access  to  the  infrastructure  and  its  affordability.  Enabling 
consumers  to  experience  mobility  in  a  seamless  way,  as  they  are  used  to  doing  with 
conventionally fuelled vehicles, is therefore a key requirement. 

This is why greater collaboration between public and private actors is needed. This 
concerns  access  to  timely,  reliable  information  about  the  location  and  availability  of 
recharging  or  refuelling  points.  Seamless,  interoperable  payment  services  will  have  a 
major impact too. However, such services are far from being a reality across the EU, and 
sometimes  even  within  single  Member  States.  Progress  on  e-mobility  services  is 
particularly needed, for which an increasing number of recharging points is being rolled 
out. 

In the end all parts of the necessary infrastructure need to be digitally connected (i.e. 
remotely  and  in  real  time  for  charging  stations).  This  will  not  only  make  it  possible  to 
monitor  the  charging  point  itself.  It  will  also  make  a  variety  of  charging  options  using 

38 See http://civitas.eu/  and http://beta.eu-smartcities.eu/. 

16 

 
 
                                                            
smartphones possible, as well as (future) value-added services (e.g. reservation) that may 
create the business case for the investors and operators of the infrastructure. 

A number of requirements for accessing, sharing and re-using data have already been 
agreed  as  part  of  the  implementation  of  the  Intelligent  Transport  Systems  (ITS) 
Directive39  and  its  subsequent  delegated  regulations,  where  existing  information  on  the 
location  and  availability  of  recharging  stations  have  to  be  provided  through  national 
access  points.  Member  States,  road  authorities  and  service  providers  must  now  ensure 
that the relevant delegated regulations40 under the ITS Directive are swiftly implemented. 
However, in many cases, data is still not available and would need to be collected and 
processed  in  Member  States.  Addressing  these  shortcomings  should  be  a  priority  for 
Member States authorities. 

But to create an open and competitive market — delivering the best possible outcomes 
for consumers —a broader range of industry-supported standards, data formats and 
communications  protocols  is  needed.  Public  and  private  market  actors  have  made 
progress  on  this  in  the  Sustainable  Transport  Forum,  resulting  in  a  Memorandum  of 
Understanding  (MoU)  that  contains  important  recommendations  for  interoperable 
payment services. 

These include the following: 

  To  ensure  that  e-mobility  services  are  interoperable  EU-wide  there  is  a  need  to 
identify  e-mobility  actors.41  A  registration  process  based  on 
uniquely 
international standards should therefore be put in place at EU level. It will require 
Member States to designate an authority competent to register unique e-mobility 
identification  codes.  The  Commission  will  consider  what  mechanism  (e.g.  the 
CEF) is appropriate for helping to set up of this process. It will provide support 
for  the  collection  of  missing  information  related  to  the  implementation  of  the 
delegated regulations referred to above. It could also look into the need to support 
the development of different roaming solutions. 

  Consumers  need  seamless,  interoperable  e-mobility  payment  services  that 
should  be  based  on  standards  which  are  open  and  free  from  intellectual 
property 
follow 
developments in this area. It will launch a public consultation on this topic before 
the  end  of  2017.  If  fragmentation  of  payment  services  prevails,  it  will  consider 
adopting a legislative approach to ensure that services are interoperable. 

royalties.  The  Commission  will  carefully 

rights  and 

  Predictability of cost is a major factor. This means having access to transparent, 
easily  understandable  and  timely  price  information.  Roaming  fees  should  be 
reasonable and limited. The Commission expects that besides working through a 
centralised hub to enable roaming, competing mechanisms (e.g. blockchain) will 
allow  the  market  to  develop  the  best  possible  outcome.  The  Commission  will 

39   Directive 2010/40/EU. 
40   Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2015/962  of  18 December  2014  supplementing  Directive 
2010/40/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council with  regard  to  the  provision  of  EU-wide 
real-time traffic information services (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 157, 23.6.2015. 

   Commission delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of 31.5.2017 supplementing Directive 2010/40/EU of the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  regard  to  the  provision  of  EU-wide  multimodal  travel 
information services. 

41   E.g. charging points, charging points pools and accounts of e-mobility end-users. 

17 

 
                                                            
closely  monitor  market  developments,  in  particular  access  to  price  information 
and roaming fees, and review the state of play at the annual conference on clean 
transport and alternative fuels infrastructure to take place in late autumn 2018. 

The Commission will continue to gather expert input and facilitate the sharing of  

The  Commission  is  also  working  with  Member  States  on  a  methodology  to  let 
consumers compare the prices of conventional and alternative fuels in a common unit, 
allowing them to estimate the total cost of ownership of different types of vehicles. It will 
also support Member States in making this information via digital tools.   

The recent evaluation of Directive 1999/94/EC42 on car labelling, that seeks to improve 
consumer  information  on  fuel  economy  and  CO2  emissions,  highlighted  the  lack  of 
specific  requirements  for  alternatively-fuelled  vehicles,  an  issue  which  needs  further 
attention. 

The  Commission  will  also  support  Member  States  in  the  collection  of  data  related  to 
location  and  availability  of  alternative  fuels  stations.43  This  data  will  then  have  to  be 
accessible in the national access points referred to under Directive 2010/40/EU. 

Key actions 

  Member States should designate authorities for the registration of unique e-mobility 
identification codes. The Commission will consider a related support mechanism. 

  The  Commission  will  launch  a  public  consultation  on  seamless,  interoperable 
services,  focusing  on  e-mobility,  still  in  2017,  and  will  closely  monitor  market 
developments related to pricing for charging electric vehicles. 

  The Commission will adopt an implementing act on fuel price comparison in 2018 

the implementation of which will be fostered further by supporting measures.  

3.5. 

Integrating electric vehicles into the electricity system 

A  wide  uptake  of  electric  vehicles  will  increase  electricity  demand  on  an  electricity 
network that is already constrained at certain times of the day in certain areas. To avoid 
unnecessary  costs  and  delays  in  the  uptake  of  electric  vehicles  due  to  costly,  time-
consuming  investments  in  upgrading  electricity  infrastructure,  (slow)  charging  of 
vehicles  should  mostly  happen  when  networks  are  not  constrained  and  sufficient 
electricity is being generated.  

The increasing digitalisation of infrastructure already enables smart management of the 
grid,  hence the  management  of  charging  points.  This  makes  ‘smart  charging’  possible: 
charging  at  the  most  convenient  time  for  the  electricity  grid  and  at  the  lowest  cost  for 
consumers.  In  the  future  batteries  in  electric  vehicles  will  also  be  used  for  electricity 
system  operations  (vehicle  to  grid),  helping  to  balance  the  electricity  grid  in  a  cost-

42  Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 relating to 

the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the 
marketing of new passenger cars. 

43 Building also on the work carried out under the European Alternative Fuels' Observatory.  

18 

 
 
                                                            
efficient  way.  Revenues  from  these  services  to  network  operators  could  be  used  to 
refinance investment cost for the infrastructure, especially for workplace charging.  

In its proposal for a directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity 
(recast),44  which  builds  upon  provisions  of  the  Energy  Efficiency  Directive45,  the 
Commission  proposes  a  coherent  framework  for  demand  response  that  enables  smart 
charging, gives  consumers incentives  to  charge at off-peak times  and gives  distribution 
system operators the ability to actively manage the grid. Swift agreement to the proposed 
recast  directives  and  its  correct  transposition  will  therefore  be  a  prerequisite  for  smart 
charging and ultimately for the large-scale uptake of electric vehicles.  

Use of energy storage technologies and devices (e.g. second-life use of car batteries in 
building  stock  as  well  as  renewably  generated  hydrogen)  should  be  more  strongly 
promoted as a key enabling condition for zero-emission mobility.  

Price  transparency  is  needed  to  ensure  that  unnecessary  cost  and  price  increases 
(electricity)  due  to  the  update  of  electric  vehicles,  including  for  lower  income 
households, are avoided.  

Key actions 

  Member  States  should  fully  enable  demand  response  by  swiftly  transposing  the 
respective  provisions  of  the  Energy  Efficiency  Directive  and  the  related  electricity 
market  design,  thereby  adopting  a  supportive  legislative  framework  for  demand 
response and smart charging.   

  Member States should promote the deployment of charging points and the pre-cabling 

of parking spaces in residential and non-residential buildings.    

  Member States should ensure that the technologies that enable smart charging such as 
smart  meters  are  rolled  out  and  that  already  adopted  and  upcoming  smart  charging 
standards for electric vehicles (e.g. ISO 15118 and IEC 63110) are being applied.    

  Electro-mobility related needs will be taken into account in the context of Horizon 2020 
programming as well as in the context of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-
Plan) process and other stakeholder fora. 

  The  Sustainable  Transport  Forum  will  further  develop  necessary  recommendations  to 
facilitate an effective implementation of the integration between charging stations and 
the electricity grid and to ensure interoperability across the EU.  

3.6.  Emerging issues 

The use of sustainable bio-methane for blending with natural gas or its substitution 
in natural gas vehicles should be increased to strengthen the sustainability of natural gas 
vehicles. Manufacturers and operators could agree on aspirational blending objectives to 
give market certainty. 

44 COM(2016) 864 final of 30.11.2016. 
45 COM 2012/27/EU 

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Besides  promoting  airport  electricity  supply  for  stationary  airplanes  as  part  of  NPFs 
under  Directive  2014/94/EU,  there  is  a  need  to  further  develop  the  use  of  alternative 
fuels in aviation. A key focus should be on drop-in biofuels, where use and production 
capacity  is  still  limited,  and  in  the  longer-term  also  on  carbon-free  propulsion 
technologies.  Multilateral  action  in  this  field  is  also  fundamental.  Working  in  ICAO 
towards further alignment of International Civil Aviation Organization and EU rules and 
standards on the sustainability of fuels will help create better market conditions. 

The Commission will encourage further efforts to boost the use of alternative fuels such 
as hydrogen or other renewable fuels combined with fuels cells to broaden the range of 
clean rail propulsion technologies. Synergies also exist between hydrogen and LNG in 
the waterborne sector, alongside advanced biofuels as drop-in solutions in this sector. 

4.  CONCLUSIONS 

With the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in force, the transition to a modern and 
low-carbon  economy  has  to  be  accelerated.  The  June  2017  European  Council 
recognised  the  Paris  Agreement  as  a  ‘key  element  for  the  modernisation  of  European 
industry and economy’.  

It is spurring increasingly intense global competition for market shares, technology and 
the  brains  that  will  come  up  with  the  low-carbon  innovations  of  the  future.  This  is  no 
time for complacency. 

This  action  plan  outlines  a  number  of  actions  to  support  an  accelerated  roll-out  of 
alternative fuels infrastructure in the EU. They are part of a mobility policy package to 
tackle  vehicles,  infrastructures,  the  electricity  grid  and  user  services  together.  By 
2025,  the  EU  should  have  completed  the  backbone  of  recharging  and  refuelling 
infrastructure, providing full coverage of the TEN-T core network corridors. 

Europe can no longer afford a patchwork of infrastructure solutions for alternative fuels, 
which risks leaving some regions and consumers behind. The assessment of NPFs under 
the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive shows that there is a lot to learn from the 
positive  experiences  of  some  Member  States.  What  is  needed  now  to  step  up  action  in 
this  area  is  serious  cross-border  and  cross-sector  collaboration  of  all  public  and 
private  stakeholders.  The  lock-in  of  technologies  and  markets  needs  to  be  prevented. 
For markets to grow, alternative fuels infrastructures and their services need to be open, 
transparent  and  interoperable.  Users  also  need  to  be  able  to  use  the  whole  transport 
network in a smooth and easy way.   

The  Commission  stands  ready  to  support  this  process  through  both  means  of  non-
legislative  and  legislative  action  as  noted  in  this  action  plan.  It  will  make  Europe's 
transport sector stronger and more competitive, ensure no consumers or regions are left 
behind while leading the fight against climate change. 

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