The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has fined the United Kingdom €32million for its delay in banning the use of red diesel in private pleasure boats in Northern Ireland (NI).
In 2018, the CJEU found that the UK wasn’t complying with the EU Fuel Directive by allowing leisure vessels to use marked diesel. The UK Government didn’t introduce the red diesel propulsion ban in NI until October 2021.
Owners of private pleasure craft with one fuel tank in NI can’t use red diesel unless it was put in the tank before the ban or in a jurisdiction where red diesel can legally be used to propel a pleasure boat, like Great Britain or the Channel Islands. Although the UK has left the EU, NI remains part of the EU single market and is bound by its rules: fuel must be marked with a dye if it is sold at less than the full tax rate. The Court argued that by dyeing all marine fuel red, it was impossible to identify if owners of pleasure boats had paid the full duty on fuel used for propulsion.
The Cruising Association (CA) Regulatory & Technical Services (RATS) group told PBO: The recent ECJ ruling on the use of red diesel in NI and the subsequent fine on the UK government directly affects vessels that are based and purchase diesel in NI. However, it does not apply to UK vessels based and purchasing fuel outside of NI. Hence irrespective of the ECJ ruling, the use of red diesel for propulsio
