The legislative package has a number of initiatives including the widespread adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF); the initiatives are aimed at ensuring the European Union meets its goals set out in the Paris Agreement
The European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package has initiatives spread across a wide variety of sectors. Credit: European Commission website
The European Commission has published its ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package this week. The legislative package has been widely anticipated due to its comprehensive coverage of several initiatives to meet the Paris Agreement. One part of the legislative package relates to adopting sustainable aviation fuels. This initiative has been called RefuelEU Aviation.
If the proposal is adopted, aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers will be required to comply with regulations which define sustainable aviation fuels. To ensure compliance, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency will be tasked with monitoring and reporting on aircraft operators and fuel suppliers. The Agency will publish an annual report which will help the European Union understand the state of the aviation market better. This includes information such as pricing, trends in the sustainable aviation fuel production in the European Union and consumption at European Union level.
The legislative package has also commented on how the regulations may be operationalised. For example, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency might seek to hear directly from aircraft operators on the challenges in accessing fuel manufactured sustainably, or on the lack of adequate airport infrastructure. This communication will allow the Agency to inform the European Union on the situation at large, including airports not fulfilling their obligations.
ReFuelEU Aviation seeks to standardise regulations across the European Union so that a competitive level playing field may be maintained. In addition to this, its major objectives are to increase the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels and increase distribution at airports across the continent. The legislative package is the Union’s latest effort to become the first continent to reduce it emissions by 55% by the end of this decade.
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