Serbia releases draft Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Act
Serbia has recently initiated a public discussion over a Draft Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Act. The new act aligns with the EU's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and creates the legal preconditions for the further development and integration of Serbian alternative fuels infrastructure with the neighbouring countries and Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
Draft Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Act aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of the transport sector in Serbia in line with the Green Agenda objectives. It envisages adoption of national policy framework (planning document)which will provide assessment of the current and future development of the alternative fuels market and infrastructure in the transport sector, as well as measures to support and incentivise the development and reinforcement of electricity grid infrastructure and the deployment of recharging points in combination with renewable energy, such as solar power.
Key points of the draft include:
- Introduction of alternative fuel vehicle categories into the Serbian regulatory framework - the draft act defines electric vehicles (EVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and hybrid vehicles, as well as the respective categories of such vehicles. These definitions have so far been absent from Serbian legislation, despite the decarbonisation of the transport sector being one of Serbia's strategic policy objectives and the fact that the purchase of EVs has been subsidised on an annual basis.
- Comprehensive regulation of recharging infrastructure – the draft act provides a more detailed definition of recharging infrastructure and technical requirements, including different types of recharging stations and recharging points. It distinguishes between publicly accessible and private recharging infrastructure, different power categories, and infrastructure designed for different categories of vehicles. Further technical requirements will be specified in secondary legislation to be issued by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure within 1 year from the adoption of the new act.
- Implementation of alternative fuel infrastructure projects – the draft remains unclear on how public authorities and local self-government units should, from a legal perspective, implement alternative fuel infrastructure development projects, and how the private sector may participate in such projects. Instead, the draft provides that local self-government units will adopt guidelines on the manner and conditions for the development of such projects on municipal roads and streets, public garages and parking lots. This issue should be addressed directly by the draft act, either by establishing a specific fast-track mechanism for project implementation or by supplementing existing project implementation models under the Public-Private Partnerships and Concessions Act or the Communal Services Act.
- Distinction between different market participants and activities within the e-mobility sector – recharging point owners, operators (i.e., owners and operators of recharging equipment) and mobility service providers, as well as their obligations, are all separately defined. This approach should enable the development of different business models in practice.
- Alternative pricing models – pricing is either contract-based, through and agreement with service providers or on an ad hoc basis. The draft provides that prices may be structured using a combination of components, including a price per kWh of electricity supplied, usage fees (per minute), per session fees, etc. In any case, prices must be reasonable, easily and clearly comparable, transparent and non-discriminatory. All components of the final price must be clearly displayed and made known to consumers before they initiate a charging session.
- Consumer rights, information and data flow – recharging point operators must make available static and dynamic data on the alternative fuels infrastructure they operate, as well as on services related to that infrastructure. Users are granted free and unrestricted access to this data, together with automated and standardized exchange of data between operators and data users. In addition, a register of alternative fuels infrastructure shall be established as public electronic register, maintained in accordance with the standards for the provision of real-time traffic information.
With the introduction of the new Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Act and previous regulatory changes to the Energy Act and the Planning and Construction Act, it seems that the Serbian regulatory framework for e-mobility and related services should soon be complete. Energy Act shall cover the strategic integration of e-mobility into the electricity grid, the Planning and Construction Act should cover the spatial planning aspects of establishing recharging infrastructure, while the draft Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Act shall serve as a lex specialis for field-specific matters and practical implementation.