The Executive approves a sanctioning regime that raises fines above the general limit of 60 million for aviation fuel suppliers who do not meet SAF quotas. The regulation arrives nearly two years late and following Brussels' proceedings against Spain.
The Council of Ministers has approved a new sanctioning regime that will allow fines for aviation fuel suppliers exceeding 60 million euros for failing to meet mandatory sustainable fuel (SAF) quotas. The measure is included in the royal decree-law on the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East, as reported by economiadigital.es.
The regulation classifies as a very serious infringement the failure to reach the minimum percentages of SAF and synthetic fuels, as well as providing misleading or inaccurate information about the characteristics or origin of these products. Unlike other very serious infringements of the Hydrocarbons Sector Law, these penalties will not be subject to the general ceiling of 60 million euros.
The calculation of the fine starts from a minimum base: double the result of multiplying the difference between the average annual price of conventional kerosene and that of SAF per tonne by the amount of fuel by which the quota has been breached. A multiplicative factor of up to five times can be applied to that amount. In the case of synthetic fuels, the difference between their price and that of conventional fuel is used.
The required quotas start at 2% of SAF from 2025 and will rise to 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035, 34% in 2040, 42% in 2045, and 70% in 2050. For synthetic fuels, the minimum annual quota will be 0.7% and an average of 1.2% in the period 2030-2031, scaling up to 5% in 2035, 10% in 2040, 15% in 2045, and 35% in 2050.
In Spain, the suppliers required to provide these fuels are Repsol, Moeve, BP, Galp, and Kuwait Petroleum. European regulations also require that the sanctioning regime extends to aircraft operators and airport management entities, each with their own obligations.
The European regulation stipulates that the revenue obtained from these fines should be allocated to research and innovation projects in SAF, to the production of these fuels, or to mechanisms to reduce the price gap compared to conventional kerosene.
The measure arrives nearly two years late. The ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, approved in 2023, should have been transposed before December 31, 2024. Spain, along with twelve other countries such as Germany, Belgium, and Portugal, did not do so, and Brussels opened proceedings last June. Spain received a letter of formal notice and two months to respond and rectify the situation.
“The sanctioning regime must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive,” states the European regulation.
The Government will subsequently be able to develop the specific methodology for calculating the penalties through a royal decree. The new limit already published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) places these very serious infringements above 60 million euros.
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