Today members of the European Parliament’s environment committee rejected a weak proposal for the implementation of crucial EU climate legislation for reducing emissions from transport fuels.
The committee voted to reject the proposal for the implementation of the Fuel Quality Directive.
The Fuel Quality Directive was agreed five years ago and obliges European fuel suppliers to reduce the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions from their fuels by 6% by 2020. But the proposed implementation measures, despite recognising the high emissions of some fuels, especially tar sands, do not set out any measures to discourage their import.
Tar sands are one of the world’s dirtiest fuels – 23% more carbon intensive than conventional oil, according to research commissioned by the European Commission.
“We welcome the European Parliament’s critical reaction to the European Commission’s failure to deliver a proposal that acts on the threat tar sands pose to the climate. The Commission now needs to listen to that call and take more action to keep this climate killer out of Europe,” said Colin Roche, extractives campaigner with Friends of the Earth Europe.
Friends of the Earth Europe has previously been highly critical of the Fuel Quality Directive implementation plan which it says does nothing to penalise the most polluting fuels.
The European Parliament will next vote in plenary on the Commission proposals.
