Brussels, 08/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 July, a new step was taken towards the adoption of a reformed European policy on biofuels. The committee of permanent representatives from the member states (Coreper) ratified the inter-institutional agreement reached on 1 April last on the draft directive to encourage more sustainable biofuels that protect both the interests of developing countries and the climate. The European Parliament ratified the agreement on 28 April last (see EUROPE 11304).
The text introduces a 7% ceiling by 2020, on the use of first-generation agri-fuels for transport and sets out an indicative objective of 0.5% by 2030 for advanced biofuels (such as algae and waste, which do not compete with food production) in the objective of at least 10% renewables in all kinds of transport. It also takes into account the Indirect Land Use Change factor (ILUC). It is now up to the Council of the EU to adopt this directive modifying the “Petrol and Diesel Fuel Quality” (98/70/EC) and “Renewable Energies” (2009/28/EC) directives. (Aminata Niang)