A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed, on Monday 3 April, that biofuels would not be allowed as a fuel after 2035, as part of the text on CO2 limits for new cars and vans.
The reaction comes as Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, said, on Monday 3 April, that “the European Commission confirms the validity of the Italian position, particularly with regard to biofuels”.
Mr Salvini’s comments echoed those of EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in an interview with Italian media Rainews24 on 1 April. “There will be negotiations with Italy on biofuels”, she said.
“The Commissioner’s words need to be put into context. She was talking generally about biofuels, which are part of our energy mix. She was not talking about the transport sector in particular”, reacted one of the Commission’s spokespersons.
“Older biofuels have a larger footprint. With each generation we reduce the carbon footprint, but even with technological advances it will be complicated to be climate neutral”, the spokesperson added, as the text formally adopted by the EU Council on 28 March after several weeks of negotiations following the German U-turn aims for a ‘zero-emission’ target for engines in new cars and vans by 2035 (see EUROPE 13150/1).
Italy would have liked to see biofuels also as an option in the text. Rome, which had abstained from the formal adoption of the agreement, had based its hopes on the fact that Germany had won on the issue of e-fuels and potentially opened a loophole (see EUROPE 13151/5). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)