During an exchange of views with the European Commission on biofuels, several members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture criticised, on Monday 1 June, the draft delegated act aimed at classifying soybean oil, under the Renewable Energy Directive, as a feedstock presenting a high risk of Indirect Land Use Change.
Several Member States had already raised this issue in the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13874/6). The draft provides for the gradual reduction to zero of the use of soybeans in biodiesel production in the EU.
Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italian) criticised the delegated act, considering that it would create “new obstacles to soya production”. According to him, “no one will use soya to produce biofuels or import soya from Argentina or Brazil for that purpose - it is not economically viable”. He nevertheless recalled that soybean-based biofuels are part of a value chain and that, in some countries such as Austria, these sectors are still functioning properly. “I hope we will be able to reject this delegated act”, he concluded.
Gilles Pennelle (PfE, French) considered that you can’t seek to reduce dependence on fossil fuels while at the same time weakening the crops that make that transition possible.
Christine Singer (Renew Europe, German) recalled that soya produced in Europe also generates essential co-products, such as oil cake for animal feed, thus reducing dependence on imports. She asked the Commission about maintaining general classifications rather than using precise evidence of origin and sustainability.
For Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), “this delegated act is nonsense”. He denounced an inconsistency in banning the use of soybean oil for biofuels, including those produced in Europe, on the grounds of deforestation in Brazil. According to him, Europe needs to reduce its dependence on imports of plant proteins, and removing this outlet would make soya production economically unviable. “It is mechanical: a soybean contains around 20% oil, and it is far from being the most highly valued oil”, he explained. He concluded by stressing that: “I have rarely seen near-unanimity against a delegated act in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)