Joint Statements to European Parliament

Bioenergy Europe recently sent a joint statement on the ENVI draft opinion calling for a revision that supports sustainable forest management and respects the subsidiarity principle, while avoiding market distortions, and unnecessary administrative and financial burdens, especially to small-scale actors to key MEPs in the ENVI committee together with the forest and forest-based sectors (Cepi, Copa-Cogeca, ELO, EOS, EUSTAFOR). A second joint statement on the ITRE draft report calling for a revision that supports a stable regulatory environment without retroactive measures and avoids burdensome administrative requirements that would fail to deliver on sustainability was sent to key MEPs in the ITRE committee together with bioenergy end-users: Cepi, Cogen Europe, EOS, and EHP. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.

EED Recast Amendments to Draft Report

The ITRE committee published its amendments (142-314, 315-595, 596-885, 886-1190) to the EED draft report of MEP Niels Fuglsang (S&D, DK). The current proposal seems to be aligned with Bioenergy Europe’s position and the deadline for the consideration of the amendments is 20 April. The final adoption of the recast is planned by mid-June.

REDIII Update on AGRI Committee

The AGRI committee has postponed its committee vote on REDIII which was originally scheduled for 31 March and will now take place at the end of April. The delay is due to challenging discussions on compromise amendments. The final text seems to be more favourable on Article 3 and the cascading issue calling for an updated guidance instead of a delegated act.

Environment Council Meeting

The Environment Council met on 17 March and discussed among other topics the regulation on certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation. Minister Barbara Pompili (FR) opened the discussion highlighting the fight against deforestation as one of the French Presidency’s priorities and many of the Member States’ representatives were supportive of the proposal and the ambition.

EU Forest Strategy

The AGRI committee held a hearing on 16 March to consider the draft report on the New EU Forest Strategy. The rapporteur, Ulrike Müller (RE, DE), opened the session (17:07:00) highlighting the multifunctionality of forests and the need to empower foresters while recognising sustainable forestry is a dynamic concept. 

EED Recast Amendments to Draft Opinion

The ENVI committee published the full list of amendments to rapporteur Eleonora Evi’s (Greens/EFA, IT) draft opinion: 111-335, 336-560, 561-791. The list includes several positive amendments on the replacement of heating systems but also some concerns regarding Art. 23 and the role of forest biomass.

Updates on REDIII Process

The revision of the REDIII is proceeding in a fast-paced way both in ITRE and ENVI committees, with the first shadow meeting for discussing compromises on the file scheduled for the 21 March and 22 March.

EU Innovation Fund

The second call for the EU Innovation Fund’s large-scale projects closed on 3 March 2022. The total amount of applications was 138 and the total funding requested amounts to EUR 12,1 billion. The projects are now being evaluated. A second call for small-scale projects is planned to be launched end of March 2022.