According to a draft agreement (‘general approach’) of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union transmitted to the Member States on Monday 13 June, Paris proposes to include new measures to limit fraud in relation to the sustainability of biofuels, in the framework of the revision of the European Directive (2018/2001) on renewable energy (RED II).
The French document states that economic operators would be required to take steps to ensure an adequate level of independent auditing of information relating to the compliance of biofuels with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction criteria of the RED II Directive.
This audit “shall verify that the systems used by economic operators are accurate, reliable and protected against fraud”, the draft guideline further states.
There are also several new features compared to the previous draft compromises (see EUROPE 12965/19, 12907/23, 12888/10), including the inclusion of renewable fuels from the international marine fleet in the calculation of the target for final renewable energy consumption in the transport sector.
The new text provides as well for the possibility for Member States to set a maritime target different from the target of reducing the greenhouse gas emission intensity of transport fuels by at least 13% by 2030, provided that this overall transport target is met.
In addition, the Presidency proposes that Member States should be able to count renewable electricity used for district heating and cooling through heat pumps in the indicative target for this sector. This target aims to increase the share of energy from renewable sources and waste in district heating and cooling by at least 2.1 percentage points as an annual average calculated for the period 2021-2030.
Like the draft guidance on the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive (2018/2002), the French document will be discussed by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on the afternoon of Friday 17 June.
The French Presidency hopes to reach an agreement in the EU Council on these two dossiers on 27 June, at the meeting of the EU energy ministers.
See the general approach: https://aeur.eu/f/254 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)