The Commission delivered its opinion on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's position at first reading regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.
The Commission accepted all the amendments adopted by the European Parliament which are the result of inter-institutional contacts with a view to reaching an agreement at second reading.
The aim of the proposal is to start the transition to biofuels that deliver substantial greenhouse gas savings when also estimated indirect land-use change (ILUC) emissions are reported.
It seeks to:
- limit the contribution that conventional biofuels (with a risk of ILUC emissions) make towards attainment of the targets in the Renewable Energy Directive;
- improve the greenhouse gas performance of biofuel production processes (reducing associated emissions) by raising the greenhouse gas saving threshold for new installations subject to protecting installations already in operation on 1st July 2014;
- encourage a greater market penetration of advanced (low-ILUC) biofuels by allowing such fuels to contribute more to the targets in the Renewable Energy Directive than conventional biofuels;
- improve the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by obliging Member States and fuel suppliers to report the estimated indirect land-use change emissions of biofuels.