30 November 2021: The Slovenian Presidency has published a progress report outlining the state of play and progress made on the ‘Fit for 55’ package within the Council.

EU ETS

As regards the aviation sector, emphasis has been on fully assessing the proposals, notably in terms of their contribution to emissions reductions, their impacts on the sectors and competitiveness, while underlining the  international context and the need to take into account national circumstances. Further, with regard to interlinkages with other files, delegations have called for an assessment of the cumulative impacts of the proposals on ETS, ReFuelEU Aviation, and on energy taxation.

ReFuel

On the ReFuel Aviation proposal, discussions have shown overall support for the proposal. With three compromise proposals, progress has been made on technical issues, such as a possible opt-in for smaller airports, which are not included in the scope of the proposal, and clarifications on the anti-tankering measures.

The text regarding provisions on reporting obligations and the role of the competent authorities was also adjusted. Furthermore, the proposed level of ambition and the availability of sustainable aviation fuels in Europe were discussed. With the third compromise proposal, the Presidency has addressed the issue of ambition level,

in particular the definition of sustainable alternative fuels (SAFs), the EU-wide ambitions regarding the supply of SAF and the length of the transitional period that provides flexibility to fuel providers. The positions amongst Member States vary greatly as several would like higher ambition and possibly being allowed national flexibility, while others want to widen the scope of the eligible fuels or lower the level of EU-wide obligations.

ETD

The technical discussions on the ETD proposal are ongoing in the Working Party on Tax Questions (Indirect Taxation – Excise duties/Energy taxation). By the end of the Presidency term, five working party meetings will have taken place on this proposal. These meetings have been devoted to a detailed presentation of the Commission proposal and the impact assessment, followed by an article-by-article analysis of the proposal. A number of questions were asked about various aspects of the proposal, such as switching from volume to energy content based taxation, the introduction of a ranking of rates according to environmental performance, the taxation of new products, indexation, the aviation and maritime sectors, as well as links with other files in the ‘Fit for 55’ package. The first article-by-article reading of the proposal is expected to be completed by the end of the Presidency term. 

You can find the full report here [1].