Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted within the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex XIII to the EEA Agreement

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee aims to amend Annex XIII (Transport) to the EEA Agreement in order to incorporate Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure.

The main adaptations proposed are:

1) The use of natural gas in Iceland is limited, as there is currently no market, infrastructure or undertakings in Iceland for natural gas, neither in road transport nor for seagoing vessels. No such market or undertakings have existed in the past or are foreseen to emerge in the future and no networks for gas distribution have yet been built. Against this background Article 6 of Directive 2014/94/EU should not be applicable to Iceland.

2) Due to its specific situation, Liechtenstein was granted a full exemption from Directive 2009/28/EC on the use of energy from renewable sources, which was incorporated into the EEA Agreement, and to which Directive 2014/94/EU refers at different instances. As there are neither coastlines/ports nor airports (except for a small heliport) in Liechtenstein, the country does not have highways and most importantly, Liechtenstein is not part of the TEN-T Network, it is asking to be exempted from implementation of Directive 2014/94/EU.