The representative of the conventional and renewable fuels manufacturing industry, FuelsEurope, has called for action from Europe’s political decision-makers in a letter sent to the Presidents of the Council of the EU, the Commission and the European Parliament on Thursday 30 January. This letter comes a day after the announcement of the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ (see EUROPE 13568/1).
“We call on Europe’s leaders to reconfirm their recognition of the fuel manufacturing industry as an essential and strategic sector and have it included in the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’”, wrote FuelsEurope. In its view, European refineries and petrochemical complexes, like other energy-intensive industrial sectors, are at a competitive disadvantage compared with importers or on world markets. “Europe’s high cost of energy, CO2 and labour, combined with a comparatively heavier regulatory burden are undermining our ongoing base operations and making Europe fail to deliver a compelling business case to invest in the transition”, it surmised.
It therefore calls for the inclusion of a specific action plan including in particular: - a reduction in regulatory and administrative burdens; - a strong business case and measures to attract investment in low-carbon and renewable liquid fuels and in the transition of the EU refining industry; - a roadmap for the scale-up of domestic production of fuels and renewable products; - the creation of new value chains.
At the same time, six European aviation industry associations, including the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), have jointly published a study setting out the main measures needed to stimulate and develop the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Europe. According to the report, “the EU should implement additional measures to break this standoff, unlock private investments and ensure advanced SAF technologies can scale to meet the required volumes, while maintaining aviation connectivity at an appropriate price”.
Read the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/fam
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/fan (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)