Brussels, 14/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided today to take Luxembourg, Italy and Portugal to the Court of Justice and to send a reasoned opinion to Slovakia for failure to fulfil their obligations under the Biofuels Directive.
1. The Commission decided to initiate court proceedings against Luxembourg and Portugal for failure to communicate measures transposing the 8 May 2003 biofuels directive. This should have been done by the end of 2004.
2. It was decided to initiate court proceedings against Italy and Luxembourg for failure to submit the national reports which were required, under the terms of the directive, by 1st July 2004.
3. It was also decided to send a reasoned opinion to Slovakia for failure to communicate transposition measures.
4. It was decided to send letters of formal notice to ten Member States that have not yet submitted their national reports for 2005 (Spain, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Germany, France, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic).
The biofuels directive (2003/30/EC) requires that an increasing proportion of all diesel and gasoline sold in the Member States be biofuels, starting with 2% in 2005 and gradually increasing so as to reach a minimum of 5.75% of fuels sold in 2010. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: “Today biofuels are the only substitute for fossil fuels in transport. They will contribute to our security of energy supply, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs in rural areas. I regret that Member States are still late in implementing these rules.” Biofuels include biodiesel made from oil seeds (especially rapeseed) and used cooking oil; bioethanol made from grain and sugar crops; and biogas made from landfill gas and farm waste. In its new biomass action plan, adopted on 7th December, the Commission has set out measures to further promote biofuels (see EUROPE 9084).