Fuel quality law stalled by biofuels battle

Discussions between technical experts from the EU member states about a law on greener transport fuels have been abandoned in favour of higher-level political talks in a bid to resolve disagreements over biofuels.

The technical experts were scheduled to meet next week (14 February) to discuss the fuel quality directive, but the talks have been moved up to a meeting of Coreper I, the council of deputy permanent representatives to the EU, apparently under pressure from the European Commission. A spokesman for Slovenia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, said: "Technically the issues are known. We believe it is for Coreper to give the direction and political push." The fuel quality directive is tentatively scheduled for discussion at a Coreper meeting on 15 February.

The fuel quality directive which was proposed by the European Commission in January 2007 would set common environmental standards for diesel and gas oil in an attempt to cut air pollution. The directive would also require fuel suppliers to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the production of fuels by 10% by 2020 at a rate of 1% a year.

But discussions have been dogged by controversy over biofuels, produced from crops. MEPs and member states have been critical of the Commission’s approach, arguing that the directive needs safeguards to prevent the use of unsustainable biofuels.

Environmentalists are worried that EU legislation might encourage the manufacture of biofuels whose overall effect is to increase CO2 emissions.

This week (4 February), Sigmar Gabriel, the German environment minister, wrote to other EU member states to outline his concerns: "Ensuring sustainability with regard to biofuels is a matter of utmost urgency to prevent possible negative effects from the use of biofuels."

Gabriel called for sustainability criteria on biofuels to be part of the fuel quality directive, rather than leaving the issue to be resolved under a separate directive on renewables. He is at odds with the Commission’s transport and energy department (DG Tren), which wants the sustainability criteria to be decided under the renewables directive, a separate law that was proposed in January as part of the EU’s energy package.

But Gabriel thinks that waiting for agreement on the renewables directive could create political uncertainty and legal problems. "Shifting the matter of laying down criteria to another decision-making process would lead to major delays," he wrote, arguing that a sustainability criteria in the fuel-quality directive was "the only way to conclude negotiations quickly and to maintain our environmental credibility".

Although a majority of member states want to see robust sustainability criteria for biofuels, not all are attached to getting it agreed under the fuel quality directive.

A UK official said that it did not matter whether the sustainability criteria was part of the renewables directive or the fuel quality directive, because the legislative timetables were similar. The EU wants to conclude a deal on the renewables directive by spring 2009 before the end of the European Parliament’s current five-year term.

The Slovenian presidency is still aiming for agreement at first reading on the fuel-quality directive during its six-month presidency, which ends in June.

There are differences between national positions on the fuel quality directive, but in general member states are more ambitious than the Commission’s proposals. In addition to the debate on the sustainability of biofuels, member states also want to see tougher provisions on reducing sulphur emissions from fuel. The Commission proposed reducing sulphur emissions in two stages, but member states, led by Sweden and Austria, want to see cuts in sulphur emissions made in one go.

Discussions between technical experts from the EU member states about a law on greener transport fuels have been abandoned in favour of higher-level political talks in a bid to resolve disagreements over biofuels.