The Renewable Energy Directive was adopted by the parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) by 52 votes to 3, with 6 abstentions.
The vote finally took place after the Council of the EU reached an agreement on 16 June (see EUROPE 13204/3), amending the text adopted in interinstitutional negotiations with the European Parliament by introducing a recital on ammonia production to meet France’s demands for renewable hydrogen production targets (see EUROPE 13201/17).
The Chair of the ITRE Committee, Cristian Bușoi (EPP, Romanian), was keen to stress that this addition by the EU Council “should not be the subject of a precedent to be reproduced, otherwise the inter-institutional negotiations lose their meaning. This is not an example to be followed in the future”.
The Parliament’s rapporteurs for the directive did in fact accept the EU Council’s addition so that the text could enter into force quickly.
The directive’s rapporteur, Markus Pieper (EPP, German), made a point of saying that it was “very annoying when a national objective is put before the objective of this directive as a whole”, before adding that “together, with the shadow rapporteurs, they have managed to weaken this new recital”.
The agreement must now be validated at Parliament’s plenary session in September. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)