EU agriculture chief: Biofuel policy ‘realistic and sustainable’

Mariann Fischer-Boel has responded to criticism of the EU’s biofuels policy, arguing that it can bring real benefits to everyone.

Responding to suggestions from the environmental lobby that biofuel production may do more harm than good, she writes in the latest issue of the Parliament Magazine that the methods the EU employs to produce biofuels mitigate any potential for environmental harm they might cause.

“While we take well-reasoned arguments extremely seriously, we have not seen anything yet to deflect us from the goals [that biofuel will make up 10 per cent of transport fuel by 2020] signed up to earlier this year by EU leaders,” she says.

The agriculture commissioner says that speeding up the production of the second generation of fuels will have a huge positive impact on Europe’s CO2 emissions.

“I will look into the possibility of abolishing the current aid to first-generation biofuels and diverting the money to promote innovation in second-generation biofuels,” the commissioner adds.

However, other critics argue that biofuels are driving up food prices. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, called last week for a five-year moratorium on their production, saying it was a “crime against humanity” to convert food crops to fuel.

Fears over climate change have boosted the demand for alternative fuels, but the rise of biofuel has been attacked by some development NGOs, who say it squeezes land needed for food.

Fischer-Boel, a former Danish minister for food, explained that biofuels are only one factor among many that have pushed up food prices.

“Bad weather in Australia has had a huge influence, key suppliers like Ukraine have banned exports and food demand in the emerging Asian economies is continuing to grow. In Europe, we use less than two per cent of our cereals output for ethanol.”

MEPs last week called on the commission to conduct an environmental and food-security impact assessment which takes account of existing competition for land and resources between food and plant-based fuel production.

Since 2004, the EU has been granting subsidies to encourage farmers to grow biofuel crops, raising fears of a move away from food production in the EU.

Funding applications for 2007 have now reached their annual limit, sparking renewed concern.

But Fischer-Boel explains that fixing the biofuels target at 10 per cent is “both realistic and sustainable”. Although she does add that in order to ensure food security, some of Europe’s bioenergy needs will be met by imports.

“Clearly, it makes no sense at all to import biofuels if more CO2 is made during their production than is saved when using them or if they create other environmental problems.

"The commission will therefore ask for a guarantee that imported biofuels do not come with a negative environmental performance tag,” the commissioner admits.

Brussels will soon publish a communication setting out its ideas for possible improvements to the common agricultural policy (CAP), the so-called ‘health check’.

“The 2003 CAP reforms have placed a much greater premium on reducing the environmental impact of farming. This also applies to the production of bioenergy and to the use of pesticides, where farmers are subject to strict limits,” Fischer-Boel says.

“I remain convinced that bioenergy will prove to be a strong card for the future of European agriculture.”

Read the full article here.

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