Brussels, 14/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - In adopting the recommendation of Spanish MEP Maria Ayuzo Gonzales (PPE /DE) on the Council common position on the promotion of biofuels in transport (codecision, second reading), the European Parliament came closer to the Council's position in order to avoid conciliation procedure. The Parliament can thus agree to Member States setting indicative, rather than compulsory, targets for the minimum share to be comprised by biofuels in the total volume of fuels marketed on their territory, and to the said indicative national targets diverging from the reference values set out in the proposal. However, the Parliament has rejected an Industry Committee amendment which would have enabled the European Commission to set compulsory targets at a later stage if Member States had not achieved their national indicative targets.
The draft directive will force Member States to adopt the legislation needed to ensure that biofuels comprise a minimum share of the fuel used on their territory. Member States will submit two reports, the first after the entry into force of the directive and the second in 2006, in which they will have to present their national indicative targets for attempting to set aside a minimum share for biofuels in accordance with reference values laid down in the directive: 2% in 2005 and 5.75% in 2010. The Parliament considers that the national indicative targets may diverge from the reference values provided that any such divergence is justified on the following grounds: (1) objective factors, such as limited national scope for producing biofuels from biomass; (2) the volume of resources allocated for biomass production for non-transport energy uses, as well as technical and climatic characteristics of the national fuel market; (3) national policies providing for comparable resources to be made available for the production of other fuels intended for transport use and derived from renewable energy sources. Even if Member States have not achieved their targets, without scientific reasons, the Parliament believes that the European Commission should not be able to set compulsory targets at a later date, as the Commission had requested.
The Parliament also asks that, by July 1 each year, Member States submit a report to the European Commission informing it of:
- the measures taken to promote the use of biofuels, and other renewable fuels, to replace diesel and petrol for transport;
- the national resources allocated for biomass production for non-transport energy use.
Voting almost unanimously (531 for, 3 against and 2 abstentions), the Parliament asks that products made up of pure vegetable oils be recognised as having biofuel value. Furthermore, the Parliament would like Member States to work to promote biofuels in public transport and asks them to take into account the overall climatic and environmental impact of biofuels, which have an excellent record in terms of overall environmental impact and profitability. Finally, Member States should promote an active information policy on the availability of biofuels and other renewable fuels.