The European Commission has published a communication titled:
Communication: Towards a Green, Digital and Resilient Economy
Consideration of the REDIII Draft Report in ITRE Committee
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy will consider Markus Pieper’s draft report on REDIII on Thursday, 3 March from 9.00 – 12.00. This will be an opportunity for the rapporteur and the shadows to present their opinions on the file and to ask questions. The streaming can be followed here. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
AGRI Committee Debate on Forest Strategy
On Monday, 28 February, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development debated the role of forestry in the new EU Forest Strategy (full draft agenda). During the presentation of the draft report, Luisa Regimenti (EPP, IT), rapporteur for opinion, highlighted the importance of Sustainable Forest Management to ensure long-term production and maintenance of ecosystems’ services. Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, FI) emphasised that understanding the variety of forests is key and therefore the “the huge potential of biomass and increasing biodiversity and carbon sequestration cannot be done if they get a one size fits all approach.” For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
Bioenergy Europe’s New Policy Director
As of 3 March, Irene di Padua will step into the role of Policy Director, taking over from Giulia Cancian. Irene will oversee the activities of the department whilst coordinating the Task Force National Advocacy as well as the WG Domestic Heating.
Next REDII Sustainability Committee Meeting Scheduled
The fifth meeting of the REDII Committee on the Sustainability of Biofuels, Bioliquids and Biomass Fuels has been scheduled for 10 March. On the agenda is the approval of the implementing act for voluntary scheme standards. Given the numerous delays on this vote, it is uncertain whether this will be resolved at the next meeting. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
Extended Deadline for Tabling Amendments in ITRE
The ITRE Secretariat has confirmed that the deadline for tabling amendments to the Markus Pieper’s Draft Report is 15 March at 12:00 instead of the originally scheduled date of 8 March. Please note that the report still has not been publicly released. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
Communication on affordable, secure and sustainable energy
Bioenergy Europe has obtained a leak of the Draft Communication by the European Commission on a Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy. The Secretariat is also finalising a statement on the current energy price crisis. For more information, please contact Michal Dlugosz.
EED Updates
The ITRE committee rapporteur Niels Fuglsang (DK, S&D) published the draft report on the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) recast. The report will be presented in the committee meeting of 3 March and MEPs can table amendments on the draft until 8 March. The deadline for the consideration of amendments is 20 April, and the adoption of the report is expected in June (dates might be subject to changes). The position of the Council on the EED recast is also available here. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
ITRE Draft Report on REDIII
The ITRE committee is expected to release a draft report on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive written by Markus Pieper (EPP, DE). In discussing the report MEP Pieper has said that forest management “cannot be defined uniformly throughout Europe,” and that his “report therefore, deletes the proposal for a delegated act to implement the cascading principle.” For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
REDIII AGRI Amendments
The AGRI committee published the second part of amendments tabled on the revision of the REDIII. Several MEPs advocated for a fairer framework to ensure bioenergy operators are aligned with the transition. A more detailed analysis and planned next steps will be shared soon. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.