‘Don’t discriminate with biofuels when it comes to taxation,’ says ePURE
Concerns have been raised about possible European Commission plans to tax fossil fuels and crop-based biofuels at the same rate.
The EU executive recently proposed the revision of the 2003 Energy Taxation Directive (ETD), whose current tax rates do not take into account the environmental performance of energy products, as reported by Euractive.
Fears have been highlighted that if crop-based biofuels are taxed at the same rate as fossil fuels, transport decarbonisation will be badly affected.
Craig Winneker, director of communications at ePURE, said the EU needed a taxation policy that worked for the environment, not against it.
He said: “With its lower energy content compared to petrol, renewable ethanol is the most heavily taxed fuel in the existing taxation regime.
“The proposal to move away from volume-based taxation should help sustainable biofuels fuels to compete with fossil fuels. But by excluding ‘sustainable food and feed crop biofuels’ from the category of ‘sustainable biofuels’ and increasing their minimum taxation level over time to reach the same as fossil fuels, the Commission’s proposal for a new ETD is inconsistent with RED II.
“For a fairer, more sustainable Energy Taxation Directive, the EU should ensure there is no discrimination among sustainable biofuels as long as they meet RED II sustainability criteria, and set minimum taxation rates of different renewable fuels that reflect their GHG savings potential compared to fossil fuel.”
The EU executive recently proposed the revision of the 2003 Energy Taxation Directive (ETD), whose current tax rates do not take into account the environmental performance of energy products, as reported by Euractive.
Fears have been highlighted that if crop-based biofuels are taxed at the same rate as fossil fuels, transport decarbonisation will be badly affected.
Craig Winneker, director of communications at ePURE, said the EU needed a taxation policy that worked for the environment, not against it.
He said: “With its lower energy content compared to petrol, renewable ethanol is the most heavily taxed fuel in the existing taxation regime.
“The proposal to move away from volume-based taxation should help sustainable biofuels fuels to compete with fossil fuels. But by excluding ‘sustainable food and feed crop biofuels’ from the category of ‘sustainable biofuels’ and increasing their minimum taxation level over time to reach the same as fossil fuels, the Commission’s proposal for a new ETD is inconsistent with RED II.
“For a fairer, more sustainable Energy Taxation Directive, the EU should ensure there is no discrimination among sustainable biofuels as long as they meet RED II sustainability criteria, and set minimum taxation rates of different renewable fuels that reflect their GHG savings potential compared to fossil fuel.”
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