Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication from the Commission: An EU Strategy for Biofuels
Date: 2006-10-11
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: energy policy, energy production, energy supply, energy technology, environmental policy, research and development, substitute fuel

6.3.2007

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C 51/23

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Green Paper — A European Strategy for Sustain-
able, Competitive and Secure Energy and on the Communication from the Commission — Biomass
Action Plan and on the Communication from the Commission — An EU Strategy for Biofuels

(2007/C 51/04)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Having regard to the Green Paper — A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy
COM(2006) 105 final, to the Communication from the Commission — Biomass Action Plan — COM
(2005) 628 final, and to the Communication from the Commission — An EU Strategy for Biofuels — COM
(2006) 34 final;

Having regard to the decision of the European Commission of 2 December 2005, to consult it under the
first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community on the Green Paper — A
European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy;

Having regard to its Bureau's decision of 16 February 2006 to instruct the Commission for Sustainable
Development to draw up an opinion on the subject;

Having regard to its opinion of 16 February 2006 on the Green Paper on energy efficiency or doing more
with less — (COM(2005) 265 final) — CdR 216/2005 fin;

Having regard to its opinion of 15 November 2001 on the Green Paper — Towards a European strategy
for the security of energy supply — (COM(2000) 769 final) — CdR 38/2001 final (1);

Having regard to its opinion of 17 June 2004 on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council on energy end-use efficiency and energy services (COM(2003) 739 final — 2003/0300
(COD)) — CdR 92/2004 fin (2);

Having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 150/2006 rév.1), adopted by the Commission for Sustainable
Development on 27 June 2006 (rapporteur: Ms Emilia Müller, Minister for Federal and European Affairs in
the Bavarian State Chancellery (DE/EPP));

adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 66th plenary session (meeting of 11 October),
held on 11 and 12 October 2006:

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

to these challenges and emphasises the importance of a long-
term EU energy strategy;

The Committee of the Regions

The Green Paper on energy

1.1 welcomes the publication of the Green Paper, which
provides an accurate assessment of the current energy situation
and indicates ways forward in the direction of a strategy for
sustainable, competitive and secure energy supplies for Europe;

1.4
stresses that in order to achieve the triple objective of
secure energy supplies, competitiveness and environmental
protection, it is essential to take into account all policy areas
linked to energy,
the environment,
research and development and external relations;

in particular

transport,

1.2
notes that Europe faces many challenges in the field of
energy, such as high and very volatile energy prices; rising
global demand for energy; security risks for producer and
transit countries and for transport routes; increasing dependence
on imports and limited diversification to date of energy sources
and supplies; growing environmental impact; and the need for
closer integration and networking of national energy markets
and for major investments in energy infrastructure;

1.5 welcomes the approach towards a common European
energy policy, which develops a partnership between European,
national and subnational spheres of government, taking due
account of the particular circumstances of individual Member
States in accordance with the subsidiarity principle. Coordinated
action is vital if Europe is to find a sustainable solution to the
problem of energy supply security and conditions;

1.3
is pleased that the Green Paper is providing the impetus
for an intensive debate on energy policy in Europe in response

(1) OJ C 107, 3.5.2002, p. 13.
(2) OJ C 318, 22.12.2004, p. 19.

1.6
points out that stable and inexpensive energy supplies
are of vital importance for sustainable development, not least in
the regions and local authorities;

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highlights the role of regional and local authorities as
1.7
energy producers (e.g. through participation in energy compa-
nies) who are dependent on fair competition;

to support rapid commercial launches of such technologies and
to facilitate coordination of Community and national research
and innovation programmes;

1.8 welcomes the conclusions of the European Council of
23 and 24 March, which envisage efforts to promote the devel-
opment of regional energy cooperation within the EU and the
integration of regional markets into the EU internal market in a
bid to ensure ‘the competitiveness of European economies and
the affordability of energy supply’;

underscores the need to diversify external and internal
1.9
sources of energy, in order to reduce the EU's dependence on
energy imports and on individual suppliers,
thus securing
sustainable energy supply;

1.10
the choice of energy mix must remain with the Member States;

stresses that, in keeping with the subsidiarity principle,

1.11
advocates an increase in the share of renewable ener-
gies with low or zero greenhouse gas emissions in the Member
States' energy mix, in order to combat climate change;

1.12
notes that efforts to diversify the energy mix have over-
looked hydropower, a very effective and efficient energy source
which is often used by regional and municipal energy producers
and suppliers, as well as geothermal energy;

1.13
deplores the inadequate transposition of the directives
on liberalising the internal gas and electricity market in many
Member States;

sees increased energy efficiency as an important goal,
increases in

1.19
particularly with a view to preventing further
import dependency;

1.20
points out that many energy-efficiency measures either
already in force in the EU or in the pipeline are only beginning
to have an impact or indeed still have to be implemented. Exam-
ples include the buildings directive,
the combined heat and
power (CHP) directive and the energy end-use efficiency direc-
tive;

1.21 welcomes the Commission's plan to conduct annual
reviews of the EU strategy from 2007 onwards, including the
medium- and long-term objectives and the measures required to
achieve them;

Biomass action plan

1.22 welcomes the publication of the biomass action plan,
the implementation of which can make an important contribu-
tion to achieving the three objectives set out in the energy
Green Paper;

considers that

the Second Internal Market Package
1.14
must be fully implemented, and an assessment conducted of its
impact, before any further legislative steps are taken;

1.23 welcomes the Commission's plan to increase the share
of biomass among renewable energies and considers the overall
package outlined by the Commission to be an appropriate basis
for expanding energy production from biomass;

emphasises the need to create a unified European
1.15
energy network and therefore considers closer cooperation
between national regulators to be an urgent necessity;

1.24 welcomes the Commission's emphasis on the impor-
tance of regions in promoting biofuels and other forms of bio-
energy as part of cohesion policy and rural development policy;

1.16
rejects the idea of setting up new administrative struc-
tures such as a European ‘energy regulator’, as national regula-
tors are capable of achieving the objectives proposed by the
Commission and confirmed by the European Council;

1.17
for the time being, does not feel that there is any
need for a new legislative proposal on gas reserves, given that
the Directive on the security of gas supplies, which came into
force in May 2006, must first be transposed;

1.18 welcomes the presentation of a strategic plan to boost
the development of new energy technologies at European level,

1.25
points out that the use of biomass can substantially
contribute to achieving the goal of deriving 12 % of total EU
energy from renewable sources by 2010, and therefore stresses
the importance of biomass as an important alternative to fossil
fuels;

1.26
highlights the fact that the action plan indicates for
the first time how the objective set in the 1997 White Paper of
tripling primary energy use from biomass in the EU to about
150 million tonnes oil equivalent
should be split
between heat, electricity and fuels (heat: 75 mtoe, electricity:
55 mtoe, fuels: 19 mtoe);

(mtoe)

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emphasises that the scenario described in the action
1.27
plan would mean a rise in the biomass share of EU primary
energy use from about 4 % at present to 8 % in 2010 and
points out that, to achieve this objective while respecting the
subsidiarity principle at every level, measures to guarantee
for example obligatory
biomass supply must also be taken,
reserves, improvement of the delivery chain etc.;

2. The Committee of the Regions' recommendations

The Green Paper on energy

to ensure a level playing field, calls for complete and
the directives on liberalising the

2.1
immediate transposition of
internal gas and electricity market in all Member States;

1.28 welcomes the Council's decision of 14.2.2006 to add
the supply of district heating to the list of goods and services to
which Member States may apply a reduced rate of VAT, and
considers it important for Member States to do so;

is in favour of conducting cost-benefit analyses of new

2.2
legislative proposals put forward by the Commission;

1.29
points out that many local and regional authorities are
already successfully implementing specific projects for gener-
ating electricity and heat from biomass — or have done so
already — and are thus playing a pioneering role in this area;
feels that it is important to promote such projects;

1.30
stresses the importance of biomass as an energy
source for rural areas: use of biomass can provide new sources
of income for both the agricultural sector (farmers as producers
of energy resources) and the forestry industry, and can also help
create new jobs;

The biofuel strategy

1.31 welcomes the Commission's communication on the
EU strategy for biofuels which, in transport, can at least partly
replace fossil fuels and be integrated into fuel supply systems;

2.3
in the review of the EU emissions trading scheme, calls
for a further expansion and an improvement of the scheme in
thus providing a stable
accordance with the Green Paper;
climate in which industries can take the long-term investment
decisions required; calls for the removal of unnecessary burdens
on industry arising in particular from the impact on electricity
prices and from distortions of competition as a result of insuffi-
cient coordination of national allocation plans between Member
States;

notes that EU-level coordination during the gas supply
2.4
crisis in January 2006 proved effective and, while continuing in
future to respect Member States' prime responsibility for the
security of their own energy supplies, calls for efforts to ensure
that effective coordination mechanisms based on the principles
of solidarity and subsidiarity are in place in the event of a
supply crisis;

urges making sustainable energy and energy efficiency a
2.5
research and development priority and providing an adequate
share of Community support for this purpose;

proposes that the EU offer incentives for the use of

2.6
sustainable energies in all relevant policy areas within its remit;

1.32
local and regional authorities are already powered by biofuels;

draws attention to the fact that public vehicle fleets in

2.7 welcomes the Commission's intention to contribute to
the continued development of energy efficiency measures, and
backs the presentation of a wide-ranging energy efficiency
action plan in the near future;

1.33
points out the importance of producing biofuels in a
sustainable manner in order to avoid a loss of biodiversity; It
should be avoided that
large energy crop ‘monocultures’
(concentrated growth of a single crop over wide areas) exces-
sively disrupt the local ecosystem.;

1.34
calls on the Commission to step up research into
biofuels, both in terms of raw material (improvement of the
energy yield and characteristics of crops or utilisation of pyro-
lytic oils as a raw material in the petrochemical industry) and in
terms of processes (conversion of biomass into energy, gasifica-
tion, pyrolysis, etc.).

2.8
in drawing up such an action plan, calls for the use of
market-assisted and cost-effective instruments, such as informa-
tion, consultancy, support, voluntary agreements, and the like,
and for due account to be taken of the limits to the burdens
which can be imposed on public finances, business and consu-
mers;

the

rejects

establishment of

2.9
for
increasing efficiency. Member States which have already made
savings or which use particularly efficient technologies have less
for further efficiency increases and would be at a
potential
competitive disadvantage if absolute targets were applied;

absolute

targets

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approves the proposal for an international agreement
2.10
on energy efficiency and the initiation of EU dialogue on energy
efficiency and saving with countries with high levels of energy
use and emerging countries;

supports the forging of a common approach to a
2.11
foreign and security policy geared towards security of supply
and the diversification of supply sources; the expansion energy
partnerships; and enhanced dialogue with key producer, transit
and user countries;
it would make sense to include non-EU
neighbouring countries in this process;

Biomass action plan

2.12
calls on the Commission to take account of the role of
local and regional authorities in implementing and further
developing the action plan, to explicitly explore the local and
regional dimension and thus also to give a major fillip to rural
areas;

in connection with biomass supplies, endorses the
the cultivation of

2.13
Commission's view that decisions about
energy crops are ‘best taken at a local or regional level’;

2.14
to enhance the security of supply, conserve resources,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote rural areas and

Brussels, 11 October 2006.

the renewable energy sector, considers it necessary not only
to encourage energy saving and boost energy efficiency but also
to further extend the use of renewable energy sources and, in
this connection, to press ahead with the sustainable expansion
of biomass use to produce both energy and materials;

The biofuel strategy

2.15
considers that it is essential to remove the current
technical barriers to the use of biofuels and to amend the EN
14214 standard to facilitate the use of a wider range of vege-
table oils for biodiesel, to the extent feasible without significant
ill-effects on fuel performance and therefore supports the
Commission's intention to begin by investigating the causes of
these barriers, and to determine specific aspects of the standard
that should be amended, while at the same time ensuring that
there is no discrimination against biofuels as a result;

2.16
calls on the Commission to take due account of the
local and regional dimension, not least in the ongoing develop-
ment of the biofuel strategy;

2.17 welcomes the Commission's intention to increase the
share of biofuels in fuel consumption, and to this end to also
provide for the monitoring measures to promote biofuels.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE