Brussels, 14/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on 10 October, the Energy Council examined a progress report elaborated by the French Presidency on the “energy/climate package” (EUROPE 9586). The Presidency aims to obtain a compromise with the European Parliament for an agreement in first reading before the end of 2008. The Presidency says that there has been “significant progress” on the “renewables directive” discussions on most of the essential elements in the mechanism for achieving the 20% goal of renewables in EU energy consumption by 2020. A consensus is also being developed on the mechanism for reaching the 10% sub-objective for renewables in transport. The Council's work, however, is characterised by several points in the EP's energy committee position, which is requesting at least 40% of this objective to be achieved via renewable sources of electricity and hydrogen production and subsequently considerably reducing the share of traditional biofuels (report by Claude Turmes: EUROPE 9738). Member states “broadly agree” on the 10% objective not being “part of intermediate objectives or segmented into sub-objectives corresponding to diverse technologies”. They also agree on the “principle” of a provision to calculate the contribution made by electric vehicles. Finally, there is widespread agreement on the principle of a rendezvous clause in 2014 on the 10% goal, which will be integrated into a more general rendezvous clause. The Presidency also notes that the Council's work on sustainability criteria for biofuels “helped to define an overall schema with widespread support”. Its main lines are: 35% energy efficiency in greenhouse gas reduction in relation to production and the use of fossil fuels in the first period, followed by 50% use as from 2017; binding environmental criteria; a mechanism based on certification schemes and international agreements and in the absence of such instruments, a communication by operators containing information on respect for social and environmental criteria. The enlarged EP energy committee has expanded these criteria to all biomass and has increased efficiency criteria to 45% in the first period and 60% as from 2015. The Presidency has explained that a general rendezvous clause will help (in 2014) to estimate whether the commercial civil aviation sector is able to use biofuels and substantially help towards the 20% renewable objective in the EU's primary energy cluster. (E.H./transl.rh)