HyLAW stands for Hydrogen Law and focuses on the removal of legal barriers to the deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen applications. It is a flagship project aimed at boosting the market uptake of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies providing market developers with a clear view of the applicable regulations whilst calling the attention of policy makers on legal barriers to be removed.

The project brings together 23 partners across Europe and is coordinated by Hydrogen Europe. The HyLAW partners will first identify the legislation and regulations relevant to fuel cell and hydrogen applications and legal barriers to their commercialisation. They will then provide public authorities with country specific benchmarks and recommendations on how to remove these barriers. HyLAW main outputs will be:

1. An online and publicly available database compiling legal and administrative processes applicable to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in 18 countries across Europe
2. National policy papers describing each legal and administrative process, highlighting best practices, legal barriers and providing policy recommendations
3. A pan-European policy paper targeted towards European decision makers
4. National and European workshops for dissemination of the findings and convincing public authorities to remove barriers

HyLAW started in January 2017 and will run until December 2018. The database will be maintained by Hydrogen Europe for minimum three years after the end of the project.

The HyLaw project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH2 JU) under grant agreement No 737977 (HyLAW). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Hydrogen Europe and N.ERGHY.

Objective

The fuel cells and hydrogen (FCH) industry has made considerable progress toward market deployment. However existing legal framework and administrative processes (LAPs) – covering areas such as planning, safety, installation and operation – only reflect use of incumbent technologies. The limited awareness of FCH technologies in LAPs, the lack of informed national and local administrations and the uncertainty on the legislation applicable to FCH technologies elicit delays and extra-costs, when they do not deter investors or clients.

This project aims at tackling this major barrier to deployment as follows:

• Systematically identifying and describing the LAPs applicable to FCH technologies in 18 national legal systems as well as in the EU proper legal system. Assessing and quantifying LAP impacts in time and/or resource terms and identify those LAP constituting a legal barrier to deployment.
• Comparing the 18 countries to identify best and bad practice.
• Raising awareness in the countries where a LAP creates a barrier to deployment.
  Advocating targeted improvements in each of 18 countries + EU level
• It will make all this work widely available through:
  1. A unique online database allowing easy identification, description and assessment of LAPs by country and FCH application.
  2. Policy papers by applications and by country with identification of best practice and recommendations for adapting LAP.
  3. A series of national (18)
  4. and European workshops with public authorities and investors.

HyLAW sets up a National Association Alliance not just for the duration of the project, but for the long term consolidation of the sector under a single unified umbrella. By bringing together these national associations and all of Hydrogen Europe’s members, it’s the first time ever that the entire European FCH sector is brought together with a clear and common ambition.

Participants in the consortium

MORE INFORMATION

HyLAW website: www.hylaw.eu

EU CORDIS project database: http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/207656_en.html