On Wednesday 13 March, EU agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) have called for the EU Council or the European Parliament to object to the delegated act on feedstock with a high risk of inducing indirect land use change (ILUC) and on the certification of biofuels originating from biomass with a low-ILUC risk (see EUROPE 12213/26).
“Despite taking into account the concerns expressed by a broad range of stakeholders in recent weeks, the delegated act has not made it possible to close the loopholes that will inevitably lead to an increased use of palm oil as a feedstock, thereby undermining the new Renewable Energy Directive in the long term”, says Copa-Cogeca.
The delegated regulation classifies palm oil as a high ILUC-risk feedstock, which should be capped at its 2019 consumption level in accordance with Directive 2018/2001 on the use of energy from renewable sources.
“Nevertheless, the Commission left the door open for the use of palm oil feedstock for energy to be considered as having a low ILUC-risk impact”. Copa-Cogeca believes that the proposed definition of low ILUC-risk biofuels “is littered with loopholes that are a serious cause for concern among the European farming community”.
The first cause for concern arises from the determination of palm oil as the only high ILUC-risk feedstock, excluding all other palm products from the scope. Worse still, the current proposal grants a special exemption for palm oil produced by small farm holders. However, “there are no guarantees that small holders will not be associated with deforestation”, Copa-Cogeca argues. There is a significant risk that the use of palm oil for energy purposes will increase, while European farmers will face a cap on EU crop-based biofuels. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)