EU Parliament vote on RED II puts ILUC debate to rest

The EU Parliament plenary vote Jan. 17 on the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) rebalanced an initially negative Environment Committee report, and represents a step in the right direction for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) rapporteur to negotiate with the European Commission and the Energy Council in the upcoming trialogue negotiations.

The EU Biodiesel Chain underlines the fact that, as in the Energy Council position, the Parliament decided not to reopen the indirect land use change (ILUC) debate, which was settled in 2015.

Parliament’s vote on a 12 percent renewables binding target is also a step in the right direction, although not matching the 14 percent target agreed by the Energy Council.

Additionally, the Parliament decision to limit the contribution of crop-based biofuels to current consumption levels in each member state does not recognize their key role in the decarbonization of the EU energy mix. This approach does not support the EU agriculture and protein sectors nor respond to COP21 climate ambitions. Going forward into trialogues, maintaining the 7 percent share for crop-based biofuels, and including them in the incorporation obligation, is therefore vital.

“Today’s Parliament position recognizes that the ILUC debate is over,” said Raffaello Garofalo, secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board, on behalf of the EU Biodiesel Chain. “Now, in the trialogue negotiations we expect a realistic and fact-based discussion to raise further the EU decarbonization ambitions in the transport sector and secure a role for the EU biodiesel industry. A clear mandate for operators including a 7 percent crop-based biofuels—as proposed by the council—is a necessity in this sense.”

The EU Biodiesel Chain includes the European Oilseed Alliance, Fediol and the European Biodiesel Board.