Frequently Asked Questions on the interpretation of certain provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/2405 on ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport

RFEUA applies to ‘Union airports’ as defined in its Article 3 point (1). Accordingly, for the purposes of RFEUA, an airport qualifies as a Union airport for a given reporting period (e.g. 2025) if it is located in the EU – except for those situated in an outermost region (Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) – and had more than 800 000 passengers or more than 100 000 tonnes of freight traffic in the previous reporting period (e.g. 2024). Additionally, airports (1) below those thresholds or (2) located in outermost regions have the possibility of opting in to the scope of RFEUAand thus being treated as Union airports for the purposes of RFEUA.

An airport located in the EU territory that does not qualify as a Union airport under Article 3 point (1) may opt-in to be treated as a Union airport and be subject to RFEUA (Article 2(2)).

To do so, the airport managing body may submit a request to the competent authorities of the Member State where the airport is located, or the Member State’s competent authorities may decide to treat the airport in question as a Union airport, after consulting the airport managing body in accordance with Article 2(2). The airport in question must be able to provide aircraft operators with access to aviation fuels containing minimum shares of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF); this requirement must be fulfilled at the time of the request or of the Member State’s decision.

List of the Member States’ competent authorities

RFEUA applies to aircraft operators as defined in Article 3 point (3). Accordingly, an operator qualifies as an aircraft operator for the purposes of RFEUA for a given reporting period (e.g. 2025) if they operated more than 500 commercial passenger flights or more than 52 commercial all-cargo flights departing from Union airports in the previous reporting period (e.g. 2024). Additionally, there is a possibility for aircraft operators below those thresholds or for those operating non-commercial flights to opt-in to the scope of RFEUA (Article 2(3)). In this case, the aircraft operator must submit its request to the Member State’s competent authority.

List of the Member States’ competent authorities

RFEUA applies equally to EU and non-EU aircraft operators falling within the scope of RFEUA for their flights departing from Union airports.

Further details on the flights within scope and out of scope of RFEUA can be found in section 2.1 of the Commission interpretative guidelines on the application of the exemptions referred to in Article 5 RFEUA.

Article 11(5) RFEUA governs how aircraft operators are assigned to their administering Member State. The designated authority or authorities (see Article 11(1) RFEUA) responsible for a given aircraft operator are determined in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 748/2009. Where an aircraft operator has not been assigned to a Member State in Commission Regulation (EC) No 748/2009, the rules laid down in Article 18a of Directive 2003/87/EC (hereinafter the ‘EU ETS Directive’) will be followed in order to determine the authority to which the aircraft operator is to be assigned. According to these rules, the aircraft operator will be assigned to the Member State which granted its operating licence, otherwise to the Member State with the greatest estimated attributed aviation emissions from flights performed by that aircraft operator in the base year.

Hence, each aircraft operator falling under the scope of RFEUA is assigned to one Member State. This approach allows the same aircraft operators to be assigned to the same Member State under RFEUA and under the EU ETS Directive, effectively streamlining reporting obligations and reducing the administrative effort under both legislations. It is the Member States’ prerogative to decide on the internal organisation of their authorities (see Article 11(1) RFEUA).

List of the competent authorities of each Member State and the list of aircraft operators assigned to each responsible Member State

The list of aircraft operators is generated with the support of EUROCONTROL, based on the Environmental Management Information Service (EMIS, formerly known as ETS Support Facility) database. Whenever a Member State, an aircraft operator or any other stakeholder have evidence that there may be an error or an omission in the list they should inform their competent national authority and the Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) as soon as possible.

The lists of aircraft operators and Union airports are intended to facilitate compliance with the legal obligations established in RFEUA and as such they may be non-exhaustive.

All aircraft operators and Union airports that meet the conditions set out in RFEUA – in particular, those covered by the definitions provided in Article 3(3) and (1) respectively, or that opted in to the scope of RFEUA – are subject to the obligations of RFEUA, regardless of whether or not they are included in the list published on the Commission’s website. In other words, aircraft operators operating flights from Union airports are responsible for knowing whether they should be included in the list, i.e. if they meet the threshold stated in Article 3(3) RFEUA. Similarly, the managing bodies of airports located in the territory of the Union are also responsible for knowing whether they should be included in the list, i.e. if they meet the threshold stated in Article 3(1) RFEUA. Where they are not included in such lists, the aircraft operators and airport managing bodies must inform the competent authorities so that they can be added to the lists.

Aviation fuel suppliers are responsible for identifying Union airports where they need to supply shares of SAF under RFEUA. They should not rely only on the lists published by the Commission, which are not legally binding. Union airport managing bodies, aircraft operators, aviation fuel suppliers and the competent authorities of the relevant Member State should therefore maintain constant and direct channels of communication and share relevant information between them.

Airport managing bodies should notify the competent authorities if their airport falls within the scope of RFEUA. This information should then be communicated to aircraft operators departing from, and aviation fuel suppliers operating at, these Union airports. Again, the managing bodies of airports falling within the scope of RFEUA are responsible for communicating this information to the relevant competent authorities so that the airport in question can be added to the list.

Article 3 point (4) RFEUA defines a ‘commercial air transport flight’ as ‘a flight operated for the purposes of transport of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or hire, including a business aviation flight operated for commercial purposes’. The types of flights covered are further explained in recital 17. Maintenance, repositioning or ferry flights are included in the scope of Article 3 point (4) RFEUA, as long as these are considered activities linked to the aircraft operator’s commercial activities. Flights operated under a public service obligation (‘PSO flights’) also fall within the scope of RFEUA.

Military flights and flights used only for operations for humanitarian, repatriation and returns, whether voluntary or enforced, including readmissions, search flights, rescue, disaster relief or medical purposes, as well as for customs, police, and fire-fighting operations, are not commercial air transport flights within the meaning of Article 3 point (4) RFEUA, and are therefore excluded from its scope (see recital 17). State flights transporting third countries’ Heads of State, Heads of Government and Government ministers are also excluded. Training flights (when they are purely non-commercial flights) and circular flights (departing and arriving at the same airport without an inter-mediate stop) are also excluded.

These flights are operated in exceptional circumstances, which cannot always be planned in the same way as standard commercial air transport flights, and therefore they might not always be able to fulfil their obligations under RFEUA.

In practice, excluded flights can be identified using EUROCONTROL’s Central Route Charges Office (CRCO) exemption code and/or the flight identification field in the operational flight plan.

Under wet lease agreements, an aircraft is operated under the air operator certificate (AOC) of the lessor (owner of the aircraft), who essentially remains responsible for the state and maintenance of the aircraft, for the benefit of the lessee (the entity leasing the aircraft), who retains effective control of the flights. The presumption, therefore, is that the lessee is the aircraft operator of that flight for the purposes of RFEUA, and that the flight plan will normally contain the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) designator of the lessee.

Under a dry lease agreement an aircraft is operated by the lessee under its AOC, with control of the aircraft effectively passing to the lessee. The presumption, therefore, is again that the lessee is the aircraft operator for the purposes of RFEUA, and the ICAO designator of the lessee should appear in the flight plan.

Flights operated under any lease agreement are allocated to the aircraft operator whose call sign is used for flight planning purposes and is indicated in the flight plan, which will be the lessee in most standard cases. Consequently, aircraft operators which have lease agreements will have to ensure that they have the necessary commercial arrangements in place to obtain the required information from the lessor, in order to comply with their obligations under RFEUA.

To avoid any distortions on the Union air transport market, all Union airports should be supplied with uniform minimum shares of SAF. Therefore, Article 4(1) and Annex I to RFEUA lays down the minimum yearly shares of SAF and synthetic aviation fuels that need to be supplied by aviation fuel suppliers. Nevertheless, aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators are free to supply and use larger quantities of SAF. The goal of RFEUA is to ensure that the mandatory minimum shares of SAF are identical across all Union airports (see recital 25).

The minimum shares of SAF and synthetic aviation fuels are calculated on an annual basis; it is therefore not possible to carry over amounts of SAF supplied above RFEUA minimum shares for one reporting period to the following reporting period.

Note that Article 15(1) RFEUA introduces a flexibility mechanism, from 1 January 2025 until 31 December 2034, which allows aviation fuel suppliers to supply aviation fuel containing higher shares of SAF in certain Union airports to compensate for the supply of aviation fuel with none or lower shares of SAF in other Union airports.

RFEUA defines the term ‘aviation fuel supplier’ in Article 3 point (19), which is linked to the definition of ‘fuel supplier’ under Article 2, second paragraph, point (38) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (hereinafter ‘RED’). The legal entities under RFEUA are therefore those supplying aviation fuel to the market at a Union airport that are responsible for passing fuel through excise duty points, or any other relevant legal entities identified as such by Member States, based on the RED criteria as transposed by each of them into national law.

Member States may rely on the implementation of their national taxation laws by using the definition’s reference to the ‘excise duty point’ to identify entities as aviation fuel suppliers. The definition also provides Member States with some degree of flexibility to decide whether other relevant entities may be considered to be fuel suppliers, in particular where no excise is due or where duly justified.

The Member States’ identification of the aviation fuel suppliers is an absolute requirement for ensuring proper enforcement of RFEUA obligations and to ensure complete onboarding to the Union Database for Biofuels (UDB) (According to Article 10 RFEUA, by 14 February of each reporting year, aviation fuel suppliers must report certain relevant information relating to each reporting period using the UDB referred to in Article 31a of RED. FAQ on the UDB) of aviation fuel suppliers and the respective voluntary schemes established under Article 30 of RED. The Commission services will publish a list of aviation fuel suppliers per Member State on the Commission’s website. This action is deemed necessary to bring both transparency and clarity to the European aviation fuel market.

An aviation fuel supplier may be part of a group of companies under a single parent company where all sister companies share a brand. The same definition of aviation fuel supplier equally applies to those cases. If one or several aviation fuel suppliers belonging to such a group are identified as separate aviation fuel suppliers by a Member State, and they have a separate head office or registered office that exercises the principal financial and operational control of their operations (i.e. a separate ‘principal place of business’), then they are considered as independent aviation fuel suppliers for the purposes of RFEUA.

The Member State responsible for a given aviation fuel supplier is the Member State in which the aviation fuel supplier has its principal place of business, pursuant to Article 11(7) and Article 3 point (21) RFEUA. The ‘principal place of business’ is defined in Article 3 point (21) RFEUA as ‘the head office or registered office of an aviation fuel supplier in the Member State within which the principal financial and operational control of the aviation fuel supplier takes place’. Member States may rely on the national measures transposing RED to identify aviation fuel suppliers; Member States may therefore deem national subsidiaries to be aviation fuel suppliers operating in their territories if they have a separate head office or registered office and exercise the principal financial and operational control of their operations there. It should be noted that RFEUA does not prohibit aviation fuel suppliers from operating in two or more Member States.

According to Article 11(7), only the competent authorities of the Member State in which the aviation fuel supplier has its principal place of business are responsible for the aviation fuel supplier in question, even if it operates in two or more Member States. Under Article 11(3), Member States must work together to ensure that specific aviation fuel suppliers are assigned to the appropriate competent authorities under RFEUA.

Under Article 11(8), for those aviation fuel suppliers which do not have their principal place of business in any Member State, the responsible Member State will be the one in which the aviation fuel supplier supplied the most aviation fuel in 2023 or in the first year of providing aviation fuel in the Union market, whichever is latest. Member States should request the necessary information from the aviation fuel suppliers supplying aviation fuel in their territories which may be covered by that provision. Aviation fuel suppliers may also submit a substantiated request to their competent authorities asking to be reassigned to another Member State.

RFEUA does not prevent aviation fuel suppliers to operate in different Member States. According to Article 4(1) RFEUA, aviation fuel suppliers are the economic operators that are obligated to supply minimum shares of SAF at Union airports. Each aviation fuel supplier operating at Union airports will have to be onboarded to the UDB and report on its obligations as described under Article 10 RFEUA. When Member States determine which aviation fuel suppliers are operating at their Union airports, this should help to determine exactly in which Union airports these obligations need to be complied with; however,it is strictly the responsibility of the aviation fuel suppliers to comply with the applicable rules and to correctly identify their obligations under RFEUA.

During the flexibility period referred to in Article 15(1), namely from 2025 to 2034, aviation fuel suppliers may decide to supply the minimum shares of SAF as a weighted average over all the aviation fuel they supply across all Union airports where they operate, e.g. in only one or in a limited number of Union airports.

Aviation fuel suppliers will have to comply with their supply obligations at all Union airports where they operate. If a certain aviation fuel supplier operates in two or more different Member States, then it must comply with its aggregated supply obligations in both or all Member States in question.

During the transitional period where the flexibility mechanism set out in Article 15(1) is in place, the aviation fuel supplier may decide to fulfil the aggregated amount of its supply obligations in airports located in only one of those two or more Member States, thus supplying SAF as a weighted average over all the aviation fuel it supplied across the Union.

Articles 8 and 10 RFEUA explicitly refer to the units of measurement for the reporting of the amounts, which are expressed in tonnes. Aviation fuel suppliers that use other units of measurement (e.g. litres) in their enterprise resource planning system should covert the amounts to tonnes for the purpose of RFEUA reporting. In order to ensure a consistent approach, aviation fuel supplier can convert their values using either the actual fuel density or the standard fuel density as set out in the Implementing Regulation 2018/2066. In accordance with Article 53(5) of that Implementing Regulation, the standard conversion value is 0,8 kg/litre.

Article 3 point (7) RFEUA defines three types of ‘SAF’ that are synthetic aviation fuels, aviation biofuels, and recycled carbon aviation fuels as defined in Article 3 points (12), (8) and (9) respectively. Article 4(1) RFEUA requires aviation fuel suppliers to ensure that all aviation fuel made available to aircraft operators at each Union airport contains minimum shares of SAF. The second subparagraph of Article 4(1) RFEUA sets out which other types of aviation fuels can count towards the minimum shares of SAF, which are renewable hydrogen for aviation, low-carbon hydrogen for aviation and synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels as defined in Article 3(16), (15) and (13) respectively. These additional aviation fuels, when used, should be taken into account in both the numerator (eligible aviation fuels) and the denominator (all aviation fuel supplied).

Yes. The second subparagraph of Article 4(1) RFEUA allows for renewable hydrogen for aviation, low-carbon hydrogen for aviation and synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels meeting the respective definitions set out in Article 3 to count towards the minimum shares of both SAF and synthetic aviation fuels to be supplied at Union airports. These aviation fuels should be included in both the numerator (eligible fuels) and the denominator (all aviation fuel supplied).

For the calculation of compliance with minimum shares in Annex I and reporting under Article 10(e), when hydrogen for aviation is made available to aircraft operators at Union airport, aviation fuel suppliers should rely on the values regarding the energy content as defined in Article 4(2) point (a). Accordingly, the energy content value of all relevant aviation fuels shall be those referred to in Article 27(2) points (g) and (h) of, and Annex III to, RED or relevant international aviation standards regarding fuels not included in that Annex. Annex III to RED defines the following energy contents:

• 43 MJ/kg for jet fuel from non-renewable sources, and for co-processed oil (processed in a refinery simultaneously with fossil fuel) of biomass or pyrolysed biomass origin, to be used to replace jet fuel,
• 44 MJ/kg for Fischer-Tropsch jet fuel (a synthetic hydrocarbon or mixture of synthetic hydrocarbons produced from biomass, to be used for replacement of jet fuel), and for hydrotreated (thermochemically treated with hydrogen) oil of biomass origin, to be used for replacement of jet fuel, and
• 120 MJ/kg for hydrogen from renewable and non-renewable sources.

In accordance with Article 27(4) of RED, the Commission may revise Annex III to adapt transport fuels and their energy content as set out in that Annex in accordance with scientific and technical progress.

Article 3 points (13) and (15) RFEUA refer to the relevant Union law containing the methodologies for assessing lifecycle emissions savings of low-carbon aviation fuels. Such methodologies will be set out under the Gas Directive, which sets the framework for assessing greenhouse gas emissions savings from low-carbon fuels. It requires a minimum lifecycle emission savings threshold of 70% for such fuels.

While the Gas Directive does not set out the exact methodology for calculating these greenhouse gas emissions savings, it requires the Commission in Article 9(5) to publish a delegated act by 5 August 2025 that defines the methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emission savings from low-carbon fuels. The methodology and related certification defined in accordance with the Gas Directive will apply to low-carbon aviation fuels, including synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels and low-carbon hydrogen for aviation falling within the scope of RFEUA.

Article 3 point (8) RFEUA sets out the types of aviation biofuels that can be considered SAF, and that must comply with RED sustainability requirements, notably the sustainability and lifecycle emissions savings criteria laid down in Article 29 of RED, and must be certified in accordance with Article 30 of RED.

The eligibility of aviation biofuels is subject to different conditions. Broadly, there are two types of aviation biofuels which count towards the minimum shares of SAF under RFEUA: aviation biofuels produced from the feedstock listed in Annex IX to RED, and aviation biofuels produced from feedstock which is not listed in Annex IX to RED and is not specifically excluded. As concerns the latter, aviation biofuels produced from certain feedstock types listed in Article 4(5) RFEUA must be excluded from the calculation of the minimum SAF shares (i.e. food and feed crops, intermediate crops, palm fatty acid distillate, palm and soy-derived materials and soap stock and its derivatives). However, that exclusion does not apply if any originally excluded feedstock under RFEUA is included in Annex IX to RED under the conditions set out in that Annex. For example, this is the case for ‘palm oil mill effluent and empty palm fruit bunches’ as well as ‘intermediate crops, such as catch crops and cover crops that are grown in areas where due to a short vegetation period the production of food and feed crops is limited to one harvest and provided their use does not trigger demand for additional land, and provided the soil organic matter content is maintained, where used for the production of biofuel for the aviation sector’, which are listed in Part A of Annex IX to RED and therefore eligible to count towards the minimum SAF shares.

No. RFEUA does not cap the amount of SAF produced from the feedstock listed in Part B of Annex IX to RED that count towards the minimum shares of SAF under RFEUA.

Synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels are defined in Article 3 point (13) RFEUA as aviation fuels that are of non-biological origin, the energy content of which is derived from non-fossil low-carbon hydrogen, which meet lifecycle emissions savings threshold of 70 % and the methodologies for assessing such lifecycle emissions savings pursuant to relevant Union law. Given that the available technology options to produce such aviation fuels are currently limited to aviation fuels produced from electricity-based low-carbon hydrogen, aviation fuels that are produced from non-renewable electricity and qualify as ‘low-carbon fuels’ under Gas Directive can be considered to qualify as synthetic low-carbon aviation fuels. To demonstrate that an aviation fuel qualifies as a synthetic low-carbon aviation fuel it can be relied on the certification framework set out under Article 9 of Gas Directive.

Article 4(4) RFEUA sets a cap of 3% on the maximum eligible amount of certain types of aviation biofuels that can count towards the SAF minimum shares. This 3% cap is calculated over the total amount of aviation fuel supplied by aviation fuel suppliers during the reporting period, not over the total amount of SAF.

The aviation biofuels subject to this cap are eligible aviation biofuels other than those which are produced from feedstock listed in Annex IX of RED.

RFEUA intends to primarily address aviation turbine fuels (see recital 17). Nevertheless, based on the definition of aviation fuels provided in Article 3 point (6) RFEUA, aviation gasoline (AVGAS), as an aviation drop-in fuel, would be covered by this definition.

However, the technical safety standards currently do not allow to blend SAF with AVGAS. The existing international aviation fuel standards only allow for SAF blending in the case of turbine engines. This restriction is recognised in recital 18.

That said, there are no obstacles to applying Article 5(1) RFEUA to piston engine aircrafts, where the aircraft concerned is used for commercial flights performed by an aircraft operator within the scope of RFEUA. Other obligations under RFEUA, such as the reporting obligations on aircraft operators laid down in Article 8, also apply to these types of aircraft.

Consequently, aviation fuel uplift obligations under Article 5(1) RFEUA apply to AVGAS where the aircraft concerned is used for commercial flights performed by an aircraft operator within the scope of RFEUA (i.e. above the thresholds set out in Article 3 point (3) RFEUA, departing from a Union airport). On the other hand, the obligations on aviation fuel suppliers to supply a minimum share of SAF should not apply to AVGAS until it is technically possible to blend it with conventional aviation fuels in accordance with the relevant safety standards.

In the same vein, aviation fuel suppliers of AVGAS must report on their supply in accordance with Article 10 RFEUA; in particular, they must report the information laid down in point (a), which refers to conventional aviation fuels, and in point (d), to the extent that data is available based on the existing fuel quality certificates. This is because, as concerns aviation fuel quality reporting, the components that must be reported under Article 10(d) are typically not measured or reported in the fuel quality certificates of this type of fuel, and as such, cannot be requested.

Yes. Aviation fuel supplier can fulfil their obligations to supply SAF at Union airports under RFEUA with SAF that is produced either in the EU or in third countries. In both cases, SAF must comply with the relevant sustainability and lifecycle emissions savings criteria and be certified as set out in RFEUA.

Article 3 point (22) defines the ‘reporting year’, whereas Article 3 point (23) defines the ‘reporting period’. Reporting year is the year when reports must be submitted (for example, 1 January to 31 December 2026), in respect of the reporting period (1 January to 31 December 2025), which is the year when the obligation was carried out and monitored..

According to Articles 8 and 10, aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers are required to fulfil their reporting obligations with respect to a ‘given reporting period’ by 31 March and 14 February of a given year respectively.

Aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers must therefore fulfil their reporting obligations during the year preceding the year in which the report is submitted.

In the period from 1 January 2025 until 31 December 2034, in accordance with Article 15(1) RFEUA, compliance with minimum shares of SAF by an aviation fuel supplier is verified based on the weighted average over all the aviation fuel supplied across all Union airports where the particular aviation fuel supplier operates, for each reporting period. These Union airports can be in one or more Member States, if the aviation fuel supplier supplies such aviation fuels in more than one Member State.

After that period, compliance with minimum shares of SAF must be checked for each aviation fuel supplier at each Union airport.

RFEUA introduces a phased implementation timeline. Reporting obligations for aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators, set out in Articles 8 and 10 RFEUA, apply from 1 January 2025 (Article 18).

Nevertheless, 2024 was the first year of application of RFEUA, and the year when all relevant preliminary steps prior to the start of the supply obligations had to be taken. For example, the relevant economic operators had to be identified and the Commission, EASA and Member States had to set up the necessary reporting processes and tools. The 2024 reporting period was therefore a preparatory phase for the subsequent full application of the obligations concerning SAF blended aviation fuel supply and aviation fuel uptake obligations, and for Union airports to facilitate access to SAF. Aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers are obliged to report on that period, by 31 March 2025 and by 14 February 2025 respectively.

Member States could impose penalties for failure to comply with the reporting obligations under Articles 8 and 10 RFEUA, i.e. for failure to report the 2024 information during 2025. However, since this first year of reporting is not linked to any of the substantive obligations laid down in Articles 4 to 6, it could be considered proportionate for Member States to adopt a lenient approach regarding any lack of or incomplete reporting for 2024.

It is, however, necessary for economic operators falling within the scope of RFEUA to cooperate with the Commission, EASA and Member States to set up the reporting arrangements, so as to ensure the smooth implementation of RFEUA as from 1 January 2025.

Article 12(1) RFEUA requires Member States to lay down the respective rules on penalties applicable to infringements of RFEUA, and to notify the Commission of such rules by the end of 2024. The penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, considering, in particular, the nature, duration, recurrence and gravity of the infringement.

The reporting obligation under Article 10(d) RFEUA covers all aviation fuels supplied to Union airports, including conventional aviation fuels. Recital 30 explains that ‘aviation fuel suppliers should report to the Agency and the relevant competent authorities the aromatics, naphthalenes and sulphur content of the aviation fuels supplied’.

It is not necessary to retest aviation fuels for the content of aromatics, naphthalenes and sulphur in the aviation fuel batch supplied at the airportin order to comply with the obligations stemming from Article 10(d) RFEUA.

Such retesting would create an additional administrative burden and costs for aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators. Besides, it would unnecessarily impact the capacity of the laboratory testing facilities in the EU. Recital 30 explains that ‘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.’ Such certificates include a certificate of quality or a certificate of analysis.

EU regulations have general application, are binding in their entirety and are directly applicable in all Member States, pursuant to Article 288 TFEU. The entry into force of RFEUA replaces any national legislation covering the supply and/or uptake of SAF in the EU, rendering those laws automatically inapplicable. This prohibition of national obligations on SAF stems from one of the most basic principles of EU law: the primacy of EU law.

This direct legal consequence is linked to the overall objective of RFEUA, which is to preserve a level playing field in the internal aviation market. Under the principle of sincere cooperation set out in the TEU, Member States must also repeal national measures which directly or indirectly lay down obligations on aviation fuel suppliers regarding any additional or parallel SAF obligations, including those which go further than what is set out in RFEUA, both in terms of their lifespan (with earlier start or later end dates) and in terms of their obligations (minimum shares of SAF).

This prohibition applies to standalone laws, to national measures transposing any directives or to any other possible national measures. In particular, Member States should bear in mind that the implementation of national measures transposing RED cannot create direct or indirect obligations for aviation fuel suppliers concerning the supply or uptake of additional shares of SAF.

Consequently, Member States may not adopt any laws establishing any direct or indirect obligation on aviation fuel suppliers to supply, as of 1 January 2025, any given level of minimum shares of SAF and synthetic aviation fuels other than the minimum shares established under RFEUA.

Likewise, Member States may not adopt any laws establishing any direct or indirect obligation on aircraft operators regarding SAF or aviation fuel uplift, as of 1 January 2025, beyond the obligations established under RFEUA.

While RFEUA prohibits Member States from having national SAF measures of any kind, either under standalone national legislation or under national measures transposing EU directives, this does not preclude Member States from developing financial and policy support measures (see recital 26). Member States may, in particular, implement initiatives contributing to reducing risk and facilitate investments in SAF production plants, etc. These possible flanking measures – which the Commission supports and encourages provided that they are compatible with EU law – are consistent with the overall objectives of the European Climate Law, as all sectors should contribute to this transition while respecting the spirit of RFEUA (recital 26).

According to Article 12(10) RFEUA, Member States must also endeavour to ensure that revenues generated from fines, or the equivalent in financial value of those revenues, are used 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.

To the extent that they constitute state aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU, Member States national measures must be notified to the Commission before being put into effect, unless they are covered by a block exemption. Each notified measure should be subject to an assessment of its compatibility with the internal market under the applicable state aid rules.

Still, such policies must not constitute excessive restrictions to the fundamental freedoms, which are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Also, policies must not overlap with the express provisions of EU legislation or with the aims and objectives they intend to achieve.

According to Article 11(1) RFEUA, each Member State must designate one or more competent authorities responsible for enforcing the application of RFEUA. Those authorities will be responsible for monitoring compliance and imposing fines for infringements. They are required to exercise their oversight and enforcement tasks impartially and transparently, and in a manner independent from aircraft operators, aviation fuel suppliers and Union airport managing bodies.

List of the Member States’ competent authorities

The Member State responsible for a given aircraft operator, Union airport managing body and aviation fuel supplier is determined in line with the rules laid down in Article 11(5) to (8) RFEUA.

Pursuant to Article 12 RFEUA, aircraft operators, Union airport managing bodies and aviation fuel suppliers are subject to fines if they fail to comply with their respective obligations under RFEUA. Member States are required to lay down the rules on the penalties that apply in the event of infringements of RFEUA, and to take all measures necessary to ensure that those rules are implemented.

The specific monetary sum that will be imposed for non-compliance will be determined by the competent authority of each Member State, in accordance with their national legislation and with the rules set out in Article 12(2) to (6) RFEUA. Article 12(9) requires Member States to establish the necessary legal and administrative framework to ensure the effective and proportionate application of these fines.

Failure to comply with the reporting obligations will also represent a breach of the legal obligations imposed on aviation fuel suppliers and aircraft operators falling within the scope of RFEUA. Member States must lay down the penalties for such breaches, and those penalties must comply with the principles of effectiveness, proportionality and dissuasiveness.

The price of aviation fuels (i.e. conventional aviation fuel, SAF and synthetic aviation fuel) is one of the key elements that determines the amount of fines (see Article 12(2), (4), (5) and (6) RFEUA). Article 12(7) requires that the methodology used to determine the price of aviation fuels must be based on verifiable and objective criteria, including criteria based on the latest available yearly technical report published by EASA under Article 13 RFEUA. In this regard, EASA’s report should be the leading document determining the aviation fuel price references to be used in calculating fines.

The methodology to be used to determine the prices should be made publicly available and shared by EASA with Member States and the Commission, to ensure that the same methodology is used to estimate the prices of SAF for the support measures referred to in Article 3c(6) of the EU ETS Directive (also referred to as ETS support for eligible fuels).

In accordance with Article 12(2) RFEUA, the amount of the fine is calculated with reference to, among other factors, the ‘total yearly non-tanked quantity’ of fuel. According to Article 3 points (25) and (26), this quantity is the sum of yearly non-tanked quantities at all Union airports – i.e. the difference between the ‘yearly aviation fuel required’ (trip and taxi out fuel necessary to operate all flights covered by RFEUA, departing from a given Union airport, over the course of a reporting period) and the actual aviation fuel uplifted by the aircraft operator prior to flights covered by RFEUA departing from a given Union airport, over the course of a reporting period.

When calculating these fines, the competent authorities must consider the obligation laid down in Article 5(1), whereby the yearly quantity of aviation fuel uplifted by a given aircraft operator at a given Union airport must be at least 90% of the yearly aviation fuel required. Therefore, when determining the amount of the fine, the calculation of the total yearly non-tanked quantity of fuel should exclude the 10% buffer allowed under Article 5(1) RFEUA.

As the aim of RFEUA is to help the aviation sector to decarbonise and to achieve its overarching objective of promoting the large-scale deployment of SAF, all revenues generated through fines should be allocated to supporting research and innovation projects in the field of SAF (such as advanced biofuels and synthetic aviation fuels), the production of SAF or mechanisms allowing the price differences between SAF and conventional aviation fuels to be bridged. Considering that the application of fines falls under the responsibility of Member States, and Member States’ remit in terms of their general budget management, Member States are also in charge of ensuring that those revenues are correctly used, while respecting Article 12(10) RFEUA.

Yes. If an entity or agent is an accredited verifier under the EU ETS Directive for aviation activities, it is assumed that the verifier in question is also capable of performing the duties set out in Article 8(3) RFEUA.

EASA, in cooperation with the Commission services, has published a manual for aircraft operators and verification bodies aimed at facilitating compliance with the reporting obligations under RFEUA and providing guidance for verifiers. 

The manual is published on EASA’s website