Brussels, 02/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 28 May, the ambassadors of the member states of the EU (Coreper) finally agreed on a compromise put by the Greek Presidency on account being taken of indirect land-use change (ILUC) in the sustainability criteria of bio-fuels.
The changes made by the Greek Presidency to its compromise made it possible to convince a qualified majority of member states to adopt it. As in the proposal of the Lithuanian Presidency in the second half of 2013, the text provides for a cap of 7% on first-generation bio-fuels in the target of 10% of renewables in the consumption of fuels in transport by 2020.
The Greek Presidency managed to win over the reluctant member states by proposing a non-binding sub-target for the production of advanced bio-fuels of at least 0.5% by 2020, including possible derogations to reduce this threshold, for example in the absence of a production potential for advanced bio-fuels at a competitive cost in any given country, in the event of a specific technical characteristic of the local transport market, or major financial support for the use of renewable electricity for transport. This threshold will not be binding upon manufacturers of bio-fuels, but the capitals must report back to the Commission in 2020 on their progress towards achieving their commitments.
The compromise tabled by the Greek Presidency also stresses that the level of ILUC must be examined in light of developments in scientific knowledge.
The Commission's initial draft text proposed a 5% limit on the share of first-generation bio-fuels in transport. The European Parliament voted in favour of a 6% limit and a sub-objective of 2.5% for advanced bio-fuels. The energy ministers are to give their formal approval to the Greek compromise on 13 June, followed by trialogue negotiations with the Commission and the Parliament. (EH)