Why the European Parliament needs time to get RED II right

Last week the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) delayed consideration of its opinion on the RED II proposal. In response, associations representing the EU's biofuels value chain wrote coordinators expressing concern about the timing of the next key steps in the legislative process, including the coming vote of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee next week.

The main text of the letter reads as follows:

"The debate on the future of the EU renewable energy policy is at a key moment and, as the associations representing the entire biofuels value chain in Europe, we consider it crucial to get it right. That is why the decision last Thursday by the TRAN committee to postpone the vote on its opinion on RED II is of concern to us – just as it was clearly of concern to several Members of the TRAN Committee.

"We believe that Members of the TRAN Committee should have their say on the legislation and that their view should be given full consideration by the ENVI Committee, given its exclusive competence on key aspects of the file, including the sustainability criteria (article 25) and treatment of conventional biofuels (article 7). For this reason, we would suggest that unless the TRAN Committee is able to hold its vote this week – thus giving enough time for ENVI Members to take its opinion into account – that the ENVI Commitee should also delay its vote, currently scheduled for the 23rd of October.

"Given the seriousness of this issue – especially the impact the European Commission’s proposal would have on EU climate goals, jobs, and our industrial and agricultural sectors – we hope you will see the wisdom of setting an appropriate legislative timetable so that the opinion of all involved MEPs and Committees can indeed be considered."

To see the full letter and signatories, click here.