The European Parliament adopted the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation(AFIR) through voting process to expand the installation of electric vehicle charging stations
The key content of the AFIR regulation, which was adopted by the vote on the 19th (Wed), is to require all member countries to install electric vehicle charging stations every 60 kilometers on major roads such as highways by 2026.
The EU adopted related guidelines for expanding charging stations for electric vehicles in 2014, but decided that it was ineffective in expanding charging station infrastructure.
The bill was enacted in the form of "Regulation," which is characterized by the direct obligation of all member states without a process of converting domestic laws.
Currently, there are a total of 377,000 charging stations for electric vehicles in the EU, which is half of the number of charging stations promised by all member states.
However, theproposal, which imposes a fine of 1,000 Euro per uninstalled charging station if a member country violates its obligationunder the regulation, didn’t adopt in the final vote.
Meanwhile, the regulations required charging station operators to mark charging charges in kilowatt-hour (kWh) to facilitate consumer price comparison between charging stations.
In addition, the regulations include matters concerning the establishment of alternative transportation fuel infrastructure such as hydrogen charging stations, and the obligation to establish electric charging infrastructure for ports and airports.