MEPs debated the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) on Thursday 27 November in Strasbourg. They did not seem convinced by the European Commission’s proposal.
The aim of the ‘STIP’ plan, which was presented at the beginning of November (see EUROPE 13746/5), is to create more favourable market conditions for investment in fuel technologies, by mobilising private funding.
As Jens Gieseke (EPP, German) pointed out, sustainable fuels are still two to ten times more expensive than fossil fuels. Together with several of his EPP colleagues and Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew Europe, German), they felt that a ‘book-and-claim’ system should be put in place, enabling airlines and businesses to buy sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and claim emission reductions, even when they do not have physical access to it where they need it, by making equivalent purchases elsewhere where SAF is available.
“We need to incentivise and reward the early movers. Investment in infrastructure must be sped up. Otherwise, we risk falling further behind our competitors who, let’s be realistic, are already far ahead”, said Nina Carberry (EPP, Irish).
For her part, Lena Schilling (Greens/EFA, Austrian) felt that the ‘STIP’ “falls short on the ambition Europe needs”. “Instead of focusing on a truly renewable future‑proof solutions that actually deliver decarbonisation, the STIP gives space to so-called low‑carbon fuels, to biofuels with questionable sustainability, to biomethane. Europe deserves a transport investment strategy that is aligned with our climate goals”, she said.
Finally, the two members of the S&D Group, Sérgio Gonçalves from Portugal and Daniel Attard from Malta, called for account to be taken of the insularity of certain regions or Member States, which limits their production and storage capacities.
“It is therefore essential that these regions receive adequate funding for this transition, that the number of alternative fuels used is limited as much as possible and that we guarantee the interoperability of transport and storage infrastructures”, emphasised Mr Gonçalves. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)