Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2027 of 26 July 2024 on verification activities pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport, and amending Directive 2009/16/EC

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport, and amending Directive 2009/16/EC (1), and in particular 13(5) and 22(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) A robust and transparent monitoring, reporting and verification system should be set up in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 to monitor compliance with its provisions. This system should apply in a non-discriminatory way to all ships and require third-party verification to ensure the accuracy of the data submitted within that system.

(2) In order to ensure impartiality and effectiveness, verifiers should be independent and competent legal entities, and should be accredited by national accreditation bodies established pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2). Verifiers should be equipped with resources, means and staff commensurate with the size of the fleet for which they perform verification activities pursuant to this Regulation. Verification should ensure: (i) the accuracy and completeness of the monitoring and reporting by companies; and (ii) compliance with this Regulation.

(3) It is necessary to ensure consistency between this Regulation and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2917 (3) in order to streamline verification activities.

(4) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down provisions concerning the following verification activities and requirements:

(a) assessment of the conformity of the monitoring plans;

(b) documents to be provided by companies to verifiers;

(c) verification of the FuelEU reports;

(d) risk analyses, including checks, to be carried out by verifiers;

(e) materiality level;

(f) reasonable assurance of verifiers;

(g) misstatements and non-conformities;

(h) content of the verification report;

(i) recommendations for improvements;

(j) site visits;

(k) communication and competences of verifiers;

(l) requirements in terms of competences and procedures.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘accreditation’ means an attestation by a national accreditation body affirming that a verifier meets the requirements of harmonised standards within the meaning of Article 2, point 9, of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and the requirements of this Regulation, and is thus qualified to carry out the verification activities set out in Articles 4 to 25 of this Regulation;

(3) ‘reasonable assurance’ means a high – but not absolute – degree of assurance, provided in the verification report based on the objective of reducing the verification risk according to the circumstances of the verification, and expressed positively in the verification statement, as to whether the FuelEU report or partial FuelEU report subject to verification are free of material misstatements;

(4) ‘materiality level’ means the quantitative threshold or cut-off point set out in Article 18, above which the verifier considers misstatements, individually or taken together with other misstatements, to be material;

(5) ‘inherent risk’ means the susceptibility of a parameter in the FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report to misstatements that could be material, individually or taken together with other misstatements, before taking into consideration the effect of any related control activities;

(6) ‘control risk’ means the susceptibility of a parameter in the FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report to misstatements that could be material, individually or when taken together with other misstatements, and that cannot be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis by the control system;

(7) ‘detection risk’ means the risk of a verifier not detecting a material misstatement;

(8) ‘verification risk’ means the risk, as a function of inherent, control and detection risk, of the verifier expressing an inappropriate verification opinion where the FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report are not free of material misstatements;

(9) ‘misstatement’ means an omission, misrepresentation or error in the reported data, apart from the uncertainty permissible pursuant to Article 13(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(10) ‘material misstatement’ means a misstatement that, in the opinion of the verifier, individually or when taken together with other misstatements, exceeds the materiality level or could otherwise have an impact on the total reported emissions or other relevant information;

(11) ‘site’ means, for the purposes of assessing the monitoring plan or verifying the FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report, a location where the monitoring process is defined and managed, including locations where relevant data and information are controlled and stored;

(12) ‘internal verification documentation’ means all internal documentation that a verifier has compiled to record documentary evidence and justification of activities carried out to assess the monitoring plan or verify a FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report pursuant to this Regulation;

(13) ‘shipping FuelEU auditor’ means an individual member of a verification team responsible for assessing a monitoring plan or verifying a FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report, other than the shipping shipping FuelEU lead auditor;

(14) ‘shipping FuelEU lead auditor’ means a shipping FuelEU auditor in charge of directing and supervising the verification team, who is responsible for performing the assessment of a monitoring plan and for reporting on the assessment, or for performing the verification of a FuelEU report and partial FuelEU report and for reporting on the verification;

(15) ‘independent reviewer’ means a person assigned by the verifier specifically to carry out internal review activities, who belongs to the same entity but has not carried out any of the verification activities subject to review;

(16) ‘technical expert’ means a person who provides detailed knowledge and expertise on a specific matter as required for the performance of verification activities and accreditation activities for the purposes of Articles 30 to 38;

(17) ‘verification’ means the activities carried out by a verifier to issue a FuelEU document of compliance pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(18) ‘FuelEU report’ means a report as referred to in Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(19) ‘partial FuelEU report’ means a FuelEU report prepared in the event of the transfer of a ship from one company to another as referred to in Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(20) ‘analytical procedures’ means the analysis of fluctuations and trends in the data, including an analysis of the relationships that are inconsistent with other relevant information or that deviate from predicted amounts;

(21) ‘control system’ means the risk assessment and entire set of control activities, including the continuous management thereof, established, documented, implemented and maintained by a company to report the data required by Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(22) ‘control activity’ means any act carried out or any measure implemented by the company to mitigate inherent risks.

Article 3

Presumption of conformity

A verifier that demonstrates conformity with the criteria laid down in the relevant harmonised standards or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of this Regulation in so far as the applicable harmonised standards cover those requirements.

CHAPTER II

VERIFICATION ACTIVITIES

SECTION 1

Assessment of monitoring plans

Article 4

Information to be provided by companies

(a) relevant documentation or descriptions of the ship’s installations, including: fuel consumption certificates; flow meters used; ice class information; information about other sources of energy; and procedures and processes or flowcharts prepared and maintained outside the monitoring plan to which reference is made in the monitoring plan, including procedures for data-flow activities and control activities referred to in paragraph 2;

(b) the risk assessment referred to in Part C, point 1, of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2015/757 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), complemented as appropriate, an outline of the overall control system, and additional data as referred to in paragraph 2;

(c) in the event of the changes to the monitoring and reporting system referred to in Article 9(2), points (b), (c) and (d), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, updated versions or new documents enabling the assessment of the amended monitoring plan;

(d) copy of the FuelEU document of compliance where previously issued and the Safety Management Certificate issued in accordance with the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (SOLAS 74, Chapter IX);

(e) copy of the Continuous Synopsis Record issued in accordance with SOLAS 74, Chapter XI-1, Reg. 5.

Article 5

Assessment of monitoring plans

(a) assess that the company used the appropriate monitoring plan template and that information is provided for all mandatory items referred to in Article 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 and in the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2031;

(b) ensure that the shipowner is identical to the registered owner recorded under the IMO Unique Company and Registered Owner Identification Number Scheme;

(c) ensure that the country of registration of the company is identical to the one recorded under the IMO Unique Company and Registered Owner Identification Number Scheme;

(d) verify that the company is the appropriate one;

(f) ensure that appropriate monitoring arrangements are provided for if the company asks that the additional energy used due to the ship’s ice class or due to sailing in ice conditions, or both, be excluded from the calculation of the compliance balance set out in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;

(g) where applicable, assess whether the information submitted by the company regarding elements, procedures or controls implemented as part of the ship’s existing management systems or covered by harmonised quality, environmental or management standards is relevant for monitoring fuel consumption, other relevant information and reporting pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2023/1805.

Article 6

Site visits

(a) the verifier has sufficient understanding of the ship’s monitoring and reporting systems, including their existence, implementation and effective operation by the company;

(b) the nature and level of complexity of the ship’s monitoring and reporting system are such that a physical site visit is not required;

(c) the verifier is able to obtain and assess all requisite information remotely;

(d) where serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances, outside the control of the company, prevent the verifier from carrying out a physical site visit and where those circumstances cannot, after using all reasonable efforts, be overcome.

The verifier shall take measures to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the monitoring plan is in conformity with Regulation (EU) 2023/1805.

The decision to carry out a virtual site visit shall be made after determining that the conditions for carrying out a virtual site visit are met. The verifier shall inform without undue delay the company of the decision to carry out a virtual site visit and that the conditions for carrying out a virtual site visit are met.

The verifier shall take measures to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the monitoring plan is in conformity with Regulation (EU) 2023/1805.

The decision to waive a site visit shall be made after determining that the conditions for waiving site visits are met. The verifier shall inform the company thereof without undue delay.

(a) when the monitoring plan of a ship is assessed for the first time by the verifier;

(b) where, during the reporting period, there have been modifications to the monitoring plan as referred to in Article 9(2), points (b), (c) and (d), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805.

Article 7

Addressing non-conformities in the monitoring plan

Article 8

Independent review of the assessment of the monitoring plan

Article 9

Verifier’s conclusions on the assessment of the monitoring plan

On the basis of the information collected during the assessment of the monitoring plan, the verifier shall without delay provide the company in writing with the conclusions reached. The conclusions shall include the following elements: