“EWABA keeps calling on legislators to improve controls and certification systems and the implementation of the EU Database for biofuels (UDB) has certainly been one of the major highlights and headaches of this year.”
This year has been another significant one with many crucial milestones for the future of our industry. 2024 as a year of European election has set the framework for future policies with new composition of the European Parliament and new European Commission calling for the need to protect European competitiveness alongside the climate neutrality goals in the upcoming years. The Clean Industrial Deal announced ahead of the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President shall combine both the competitiveness and climate protection, and the word “technology neutrality” has finally become an official part of the Brussels language for the future legislative framework.
Technology neutral approach for which we have been calling together with other industry players for many years is essential in the road transport sector and therefore internal combustion engine cars fuelled with CO2 neutral fuels including biofuels shall be maintained as alternative solution for EU customers. The Working Group for Monitoring Methodologies where I have the privilege to chair the Sub-group 1 on fuel definition is currently finalizing its report to prove the legislators that there are multiple reliable solutions for monitoring of CO2 neutral fuels in vehicles and the broad industry including automotive producers and fuel suppliers is united on the definition of CO2 neutral fuels reflecting the sustainability criteria set in RED. The Group is negotiating its future setup and joint activities for upcoming revisions of CO2 standards for both cars and vans and heavy-duty vehicles.
Besides that big battle for the road transport future the waste-based and advanced biodiesel industry specifically is having challenging times again with continuing suspicious imports, even if already addressed with provisional anti-dumping duties, but circumvention practices are still happening. EWABA keeps calling on legislators to improve controls and certification systems and the implementation of the EU Database for biofuels (UDB) has certainly been one of the major highlights and headaches of this year. Thanks to our members support and knowledge we have achieved several improvements of the system which once fully operational will help our industry significantly. But there is still way to go and we keep being persistent in our communication towards the Commission that the system requires additional improvements in order to be binding and data protection needs to be secured.
On the other hand we also have several positive challenges ahead – new feedstocks added to the Annex IX mean new opportunity for our members, even if we are not fully comfortable with the division of cover- and intermediate crops between Part A for aviation and Part B for other sectors and the proper definition of certification rules for new feedstocks is still pending. This needs to be accompanied with lifting of the 1,7% cap for Annex IXB which cannot remain at the same level for 6 feedstocks as it was for 2, and after proper UDB implementation there is no logic for any cap at all.
B10 implementation and higher biodiesel blends deployment is another great task and we are enthusiastic to assist our members in the REDIII transposition in their Member States.
But besides the road transport also our engagement in the maritime sector is growing. Upcoming mandates resulting from the FuelEU maritime as from 2025 are constantly bringing new interest in this sector and we are really enjoying to deep dive into this amazing and new demand sector for waste-based and advanced biodiesel producers. We keep committed to do better and more as the time ahead is challenging once again.
Daša Mamrillova
Government Affairs Director
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