In 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the UK should not allow private pleasure craft to continue to use red diesel. HMRC has just issued its consultation document which outlines the proposed change to white diesel for the propulsion of powered leisure craft, including inland boats. The document contains a number of questions for owners of diesel-powered craft.
The Cruising Association (CA) is now urging all UK boaters who use diesel fuel to respond directly to these questions. HMRC has made it clear that it will only accept responses from individuals, and not a compilation of responses.
Interested parties can access the full document, Implementation of the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment on diesel fuel used in private pleasure craft on the gov.uk website.
There are still some uncertainties about whether the CJEU ruling will actually be implemented in the UK, depending on the outcome of Brexit. Whatever the outcome, on behalf of CA members, RATS (the Regulations and Technical Services Committee), must make certain all the supply difficulties and all the problems of other stakeholders are properly and legally resolved during a workable transition period.
The CA is Britain's leading organisation for cruising sailors with 6,300 members.
