Members of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee debated on Tuesday 19 April the European Commission’s proposal on sustainable aviation fuels (‘ReFuelEU Aviation’) (see EUROPE 12903/17).
While more than 400 amendments have been tabled, some points are already the subject of division between the political groups.
“We will see where the majority is, but I hope we will have a more ambitious position than the Commission”, summarised rapporteur Søren Gade (Renew Europe, Denmark), saying that there were differences in the approach of the Parliament’s committees and between the political groups.
In concrete terms, the question of the definition of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) should be one of the most discussed issues. While some groups are calling for a cap on the number and types of SAFs, others, like Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Ireland), want the list to be extended to other SAFs, including some biofuels.
On the EPP side, several priorities were also recalled. Thus, the group advocates incentives for the introduction of SAFs through an aviation innovation fund for the development of new energies and engines.
In addition, the group also insisted on having a harmonisation of rules between countries in order to avoid “27 mandates with different rules in all countries”. To do this, Claudia Monteiro de Aguiar (EPP, Portugal) argued that the solution should come from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
It would also, in her view, allow progress to be made on the thorny issue of ‘tankering’, which consists of airlines taking tonnes of excess fuel with them to avoid refuelling at European airports, where legislation may be stricter than in some third countries.
The issues of scope and competitiveness were also addressed. The rapporteur’s work on these issues should be in part a balancing act.
“The Commission’s proposal covers more than 95% of the aviation sector in the EU, but I would like to increase the coverage. This means ‘less emissions’, but we must also bear in mind the competition aspects”, he said.
Finally, the incorporation rates of SAFs and the uncertainties about their rapid availability on a large scale were also discussed.
The idea of including private aviation in the text was also raised by Ciaran Cuffe, while his counterpart, Erik Bregkvist (S&D, Sweden), called for airports to be more closely involved in Parliament’s work on SAFs. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)