How do national rules add to EU law?
The company plans chargers in three more countries. The EU rules are the same; the national ones are not.
The manager starts a second checklist, one per country.
The questionWhere do national rules come in, and what do they add?
AFIR applies in its entirety in every Member State, in the same words.
Select each layer to see what it adds.
Two German examples
- Grid control. Non-public charge points above 4.2 kW at low voltage that went into operation since 1 January 2024 count as controllable devices; grid operators may reduce their power temporarily, with a guaranteed minimum of 4.2 kW.
- Metering. German measuring and calibration law leads to that drivers can verify, years before the EU-wide metering rules.
Reporting back to the EU
also works upwards: Member States report measures in national policy frameworks, including the geographical distribution of points, and national regulatory authorities assess every three years how bidirectional charging could lower costs and raise the share of renewable electricity. RED III adds national duties on smart and bidirectional charging at private points and on market access.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
Which charging rule in Germany comes from a national decision rather than an EU regulation?
The §14a rules come from the Bundesnetzagentur; the other three are AFIR.
What must national regulators assess every three years under AFIR?
Article 15(4): regulators assess bidirectional charging's potential to lower costs and raise renewables every three years.
Why does a company need a checklist per country even under AFIR?
AFIR is the same everywhere; buildings, grid, metering details and permits come through national law.
- AFIR Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (EU) 2023/1804: EU rules for public charging, from payment to coverage. EV charging fundamentals, stop 08 Glossary
- Signed meter value A meter reading signed by the meter itself, so drivers and operators can check that it is authentic and unaltered. OCPP in depth, stop 05 Glossary
- Bidirectional charging Smart charging in which the electricity can also flow from the car's battery back to the charging point. Bidirectional charging, stop 01 Glossary
- Bundesnetzagentur: BK6-22-300, Annex 1: Festlegung zur netzorientierten Steuerung von steuerbaren Verbrauchseinrichtungen, 27 November 2023, sections 2.4 and 4.5. https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Beschlusskammern/1_GZ/BK6-GZ/2022/BK6-22-300/Beschluss/BK6-22-300_Beschluss_Anlage1.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1. Checked 09 Oct 2026.
- Open Charge Alliance: Signed Meter Values (Eichrecht paper), version 1.0, February 2025. https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/signed_meter_values-v10-1.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
- Open Charge Alliance: AFIR and OCPP, white paper v1.0, January 2024. https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ocpp_and_afir-white-paper.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
- EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III), Article 20a. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/2413/oj. Checked 09 Oct 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.