The European Commission published an implementing regulation on Tuesday 3 November enabling it to monitor imports of renewable ethanol for fuel. This legislation comes after a request from France based on comments from the European bioethanol industry. It claims that the Covid-19 crisis has led to a sharp increase in imports of this fuel, which could cause significant damage to the European economy. Low prices for imported bioethanol could lead to unfair competition on the European market, according to Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, imports of renewable ethanol had increased by 512% between 2017 and 2019, according to the representative of the European renewable ethanol association (ePURE). Falling fuel demand during the lockdown has led to a build-up of producer inventories. This cumulation is all the stronger for Brazil and the United States (two major world producers) as the European industry fears being drowned out by imports after the health crisis.
In May 2019, the Commission had lifted the anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of bioethanol from the United States, which had been in force since 2013. The Commission said that it was unlikely that US producers would export significant quantities of bioethanol to the Union at dumped prices following the expiry of those measures.
According to ePURE, this new regulation “will facilitate a prompt and effective reaction in case the threat related to increased imports materialises”. This monitoring is planned for a period of one year starting 4 November.
Link to the implementing regulation: https://bit.ly/3oWdbCG (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)