(fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) To be taken into account for the purposes of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, renewable fuels and recycled carbon fuels are to be certified as complying with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria laid down in that Directive. To provide legal certainty and ensure a harmonised approach for economic operators, voluntary schemes and Member States, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996 laid down rules applicable throughout the certification process. 

(2) Pursuant to Article 11(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996, certification bodies carrying out verification activities are required to be accredited. That accreditation is to cover the specific scope of certification carried out under voluntary and national schemes and is mandatory from 1 January 2027. 

(3) To determine whether certification bodies operating under voluntary schemes and national schemes can be accredited, the Commission has been tasked with assessing, after consulting the European cooperation for Accreditation, whether the methodologies, rules and protocols of those schemes are suitable for accreditation. The assessment of the suitability of accreditation for recognised voluntary and national schemes is still ongoing, in part because of challenges related to the late transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/2413 of the European Parliament and of the Council by Member States. 

(4) Given the need for additional time to conclude that assessment, and to allow certification bodies sufficient time to obtain accreditation, the date of application of the accreditation requirement should be deferred from 1 January 2027 to 1 January 2028. Such a deferral should ensure the proper functioning of the certification system. 

(5) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

(6) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on the Sustainability of Biofuels, Bioliquids and Biomass fuels,