Brussels, 13/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - The day after publication of an OECD report on the risks linked to developing green biofuels, the European Commission provided assurances on Thursday 13 September that its policy promoting biofuels is “positive for the environment”. In a reply to journalists, a Commission spokesperson told journalists that “biofuels do produce less CO2 than fossil fuels”. Last March the European Council adopted a Commission proposal that set a 10% minimum target for all member states for the share of biofuels in the overall EU consumption of petrol and diesel consumption for transport by 2020. An impact study carried out by DG Agriculture at the Commission, of which the results were published last July, concluded that the impact of this target on the food and non-food markets in the EU and world market will be limited (EUROPE 9476). However, in a report discussed on 11 September, OECD experts asked whether biofuels were a “cure that was worse than the illness”. Highlighting the risks of high food prices and the threat to ecosystem protection linked to biofuel development, the authors of the report call on the IEA, OECD, OAA and World Bank to continue their joint studies in order to better evaluate the consequences of current and future biofuel production. (eh)