Policy recommendations

  • The European Union must ensure that its Energy Policy will not harm the food security of the urban and rural poor in developing countries, whose daily survival is threatened by substantially higher food prices. It should draw up a strategy to ensure the urban and rural poor are compensated for higher food prices before installing mandatory levels of biofuels;
  • The European Union should abolish its domestic subsidies and import tariffs for biofuels, in order to allow developing countries to profit from the trade opportunities biofuels offer;
  • The European Union should draw up comprehensive sustainability criteria for biofuels, including more ambitious standards for greenhouse-gas reduction a slight decrease of emissions as compared to fossil fuels is simply not enough and the protection of biodiversity and carbon-rich ecosystems;
  • The European Commission should include social criteria in its review of the Biofuels Directive to guarantee that the rural populations who live off marginal lands and forests are not hurt by expanding agricultural production;
  • The European Union should stimulate local processing and the use of sustainable biofuels in developing countries. Small-scale farmer cooperatives should be stimulated to prevent the benefits from biofuel production from only falling into the hands of large-plantation owners.

Case: Biofuels

22-09-2010 MEP concerned about biofuels and land grabbing

MEP Georgios Papastamkos (EPP) asked questions to the Commission about the future of the European policy on biofuels. Member states have indicated that there is a general reluctance to give strong backing to the use of biofuels. Also it is causing side effects in Africa like land grabbing issues. Food security is one of the Commissions priorities on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), and this is being threatened in developing countries by foreign companies which are buying land to produce biofuels. European companies are the second largest investors in biofuels in Africa and European policies are encouraging this trend. Many local farmers are switching to these cashcrops as well.
Article 208 of the Lisbon treaty states that the goal of development policy of the European Union is to reduce poverty world wide. Furthermore the EU has committed itself to the Millennium Development Goals. Switching from crops for human consumption to biofuels is not the way to end hunger. The EU should stop subsidizing biofuels on the African continent.

Georgios Papastmkos (EPP) is recognized as Fair Politician for expressing concerns about the biofuels and land grabbing. Therefore he earns a point in our monitoring system.

Monitor fair: EPP

Parliamentary Questions
14-09-2010
E-7133/2010
WRITTEN QUESTION, by Georgios Papastamkos (EPP)

Subject: Future of European policy on biofuels


The national action programmes on renewable energy sources submitted to the Commission by the 27 Member States reveal a general reluctance to give strong backing to the use of biofuels.
1. Does the Commission think that the EU's stated objective that biofuels should account for 10% of all fuels used in transport by 2020 can be achieved, given that an overwhelming majority of Member States are not planning to increase their use of biofuels above this level?
2. Can it confirm the findings of research by environmental organisations revealing that foreign investment funds have purchased more than 5 million hectares of land in various African countries in order to produce biofuels destined for European markets?
3. Do the relevant Commission services have a definite strategy for achieving the targets which have been set in this area, bearing in mind the disagreements expressed by the competent members of the outgoing Commission? Does it think these targets should be reviewed, given the existing policy and the scientific uncertainties at global and European level as to the effects of biofuel production?