Activities of Britta THOMSEN related to 2008/0016(COD)

Proposal for a directive
Recital 5

(5) The Brussels European Council of March 2007 reaffirmed the Community's commitment to the Community-wide development of renewable energies beyond 2010. It endorsed a mandatory target of a 20% share of renewable energies in overall Community energy consumption by 2020 and a mandatory 10% minimum target to be achieved by all Member States for the share of ~~biofuels in transport petrol and diesel consumption~~renewable energy in transport by 2020, to be introduced in a cost-effective way. It stated that the binding character of the biofuel target is appropriate subject to production being sustainable, second- generation biofuels becoming commercially available and Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC being amended to allow for adequate levels of blending.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 6

(6) The main purpose of binding targets is to provide certainty for investors. Deferring a decision about whether a target is binding until a future event takes place is thus not appropriate. In a statement to the minutes of the Council of 15 February 2007, the Commission therefore stated that it did not consider that the binding nature of the target should be deferred until second generation biofuels became commercially available, however in this context, more support should be given to stimulating the development of biofuels, which which have greater greenhouse gas emission savings.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 7

(7) The European Parliament, in its Resolution of 25 September 2007 on the Roadmap for Renewable Energy in Europe1, has called on the Commission to present by the end of 2007 a proposal for a renewable energy legislative framework, referring to the importance of setting binding targets for the shares of energy from renewable sources ~~at Community and Member State level~~in electricity, transport and heating and cooling as well as binding targets at Community and Member State level. __________________________ 1 Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0406.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Britta THOMSEN, Anni PODIMATA

Proposal for a directive
Recital 10

(10) By contrast, it is appropriate for the 10% target for renewable energy in transport to be set at the same level for each Member State in order to ensure consistency in transport fuel specifications and availability. Because transport fuels are traded easily, Member States with low endowments of the relevant resources will easily be able to obtain renewable transport fuels from elsewhere. While it would technically be possible for the Community to meet its ~~biofuel targe~~target for renewable energy in transport solely from domestic production, it is both likely and desirable that the target will in fact be met through a combination of domestic production and imports. To this end, the Commission should monitor the supply of the Community market for biofuels, and should, as appropriate, propose relevant measures to achieve a balanced approach between domestic production and imports, taking into account the development of multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations as well as environmental, cost, energy security, greenhouse gas savings and other considerations.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 11

(11) To ensure that the mandatory overall targets are achieved, Member States should work towards ~~a an indicative trajectory~~mandatory minimum interim targets tracing a path towards the achievement of their final mandatory targets~~, and~~. They should establish a ~~national action pl~~renewable energy action plan including information on joint target agreements, reference statistics, mandatory national final and in~~cluding sectoral~~terim targets as well as sectoral targets. In addition, they should set out their measures to achieve these targets, while having in mind that there are different uses of biomass and therefore it is essential to mobilise new biomass resources. Assessments concerning the expected contribution of each renewable energy technology and a strategic environmental assessment should be included.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Mechtild ROTHE, Britta THOMSEN, Anni PODIMATA

Proposal for a directive
Recital 12

(12) To permit the benefits of technological advance and economies of scale to be reaped, the ~~indicative trajectory~~mandatory minimum interim targets should take into account the possibility of a more rapid growth in the use of energy from renewable sources in later years. In this way, special attention can be given to sectors that disproportionately suffer from the absence of technological advance and economies of scale and therefore remain under-developed, but which in future could significantly contribute to reaching the targets for 2020.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 15

(15) In calculating the contribution of hydropower and wind power, the effects of climatic variation should be smoothed through the use of a normalisation rule.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 24

(24) The lack of transparent rules and coordination between the different authorisation bodies has been shown to hinder the deployment of renewable energy. Therefore the specific structure of the renewable energy sector should be taken into account when national, regional and local authorities review their administrative procedures for giving permission to construct and operate plants producing electricity, heating and cooling or transport fuels from renewable energy sources. A single administrative body responsible for all necessary authorisations should be established. Administrative approval procedures should be streamlined with clear deadlines for installations using energy from renewable sources. Planning rules and guidelines should be adapted to take into consideration cost effective and environmentally beneficial renewable heating and cooling and electricity equipment.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 34

(34) Biofuel production should be environmentally sustainable. Biofuels used for compliance with the targets laid down in this Directive, and those that benefit from national support systems, should therefore be required to fulfil criteria for environmental and social sustainability.

2008/06/18
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 48

(48) In order to permit the achievement of a 10% share of ~~biofuels~~energy from renewable sources in transport by 2020, it is necessary to ensure the placing on the market of higher blends of biodiesel in diesel than those envisaged by standard EN590/2004.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 50 a (new)

(50a) Member States operate different mechanisms of support for energy from renewable sources at the national level, which vary also among renewable energy sectors. A harmonised Community-wide framework regarding support schemes in any of the renewable energy sectors could be envisaged in the long term. [By December 2012] the Commission should assess the impacts of the existing support schemes and the possibility of proposing a harmonised market based European renewable energy deployment support scheme.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 52

(52) When designing their support systems, Member States ~~may~~should encourage the use of biofuels which give additional benefits – including the benefits of diversification offered by biofuels made from wastes, residues, non-food cellulosic material, and ligno-cellulosic material – by taking due account of the different costs of producing energy from traditional biofuels on the one hand and of these biofuels which give additional benefits on the other hand. Member States ~~may~~should encourage investment in the development of renewable energy technologies that need time to become competitive.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 55

(55) In particular, power should be conferred on the Commission to adapt the methodological principles and values necessary for assessing whether environmental and social sustainability criteria have been fulfilled in relation to biofuels and other bioliquids and to adapt the energy content of transport fuels to technical and scientific progress. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by the adaptation of the methodological principles and values, they must be adopted in line with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Recital 57

(57) Since the general objectives of achieving a binding 20% share of renewable energies in the Community’s overall final energy consumption and a binding 10% share of ~~biofuel~~energy from renewable sources in each Member State’s transport ~~petrol and diesel consumption~~sector by 2020 cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – point d

(d) “district heating or cooling” means the distribution of thermal energy in the form of steam, hot water or chilled liquids, from a central source of production through a network to multiple buildings, for the use of space or process heating or, cooling or for preparation of hot tap water;

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. The European Union’s overall target for the consumption of renewable energy sources as a share of overall final energy consumption in 2020 shall be at least 20%.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1

3. Each Member State shall ensure that the share of energy from renewable sources in transport in 2020 is at least 10% of final consumption of energy in transport in that Member State, whereby biofuels and other bioliquids counting towards the target shall fulfil the sustainability criteria set out in Article 15. By the end of 2015 Member States may set a target of at least 1% of final consumption of energy in transport from cellulosic biofuel. Each Member State shall ensure that the share of cellulosic biofuel in transport in 2020 is at least 2% of final consumption of energy in transport in that Member State.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. The Commission shall establish before 1 January 2010 a methodology for calculating the contribution of renewable electricity and hydrogen in the total fuel mix. This measure, designed to amend non- essential elements of this Directive, by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 21, paragraph 3.

2008/06/23
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. The Commission shall develop a common binding template for national action plans in an annex to this Directive by 30 June 2009. That template shall serve as guidelines for Member States and shall be developed in consultation with Member States and civil society. Those guidelines shall indicate the structure of national action plans including standardised information on the steering instruments and overall measures that Member States intend to use to reach their national target, the measurements/methodology and reference statistics for calculation of the share of energy from renewable sources, planned actions by technologies (such as wind power, bioenergy and solar power) and by sectors (such as industry, household and services as well as transport). The Member States shall report general measures including tax, financial, legal or other policies promoting the use of energy from renewable sources as well as actions envisioned for the use of renewable energy in the public sector. To increase transparency for investors in renewable energy the national action plans shall include a description of the subsidy levels for different technologies. That information shall be published by the Commission.

2008/06/24
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1

1. Each Member State shall designate a single competent body for guarantees of origin and, where appropriate, transfer accounting certificates to undertake the following tasks: (a) establishing and maintain a national register ~~of guarantees of origin; (b) issue guarantees of origin~~; (b) issuing; (c) recording any transfer ~~of guarantees of origin; (d) cancel guarantees of origi~~; (d) cancellation; (e) publishing an annual report on the quantities ~~of guarantees of origin~~ issued, transferred to or from each of the other competent bodies and cancelled.

2008/06/24
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) the automatic approval of planning and permit applications for renewable energy installations where the authorising body has not responded within the set time limits;

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)

(cb) a single administrative body is established for processing authorisation, certification and licensing applications for renewable energy installations and providing assistance to applicants;

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point f

(f) less burdensome and simplified authoriszation procedures are established for smaller projects; and

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 3

3. Member States shall require local and regional administrative bodies to ~~consider~~ensure the installation of equipment and systems for the use of heating, cooling and electricity from renewable sources and for district heating and cooling when planning, designing, building and refurbishing industrial or residential areas. Member States shall, in particular, encourage local and regional administrative bodies to include heating and cooling from renewable energy sources in the planning of the city infrastructure in cities with more than 50 000 inhabitants.

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1

4. In their building regulations and codes Member States shall require the use of minimum levels of energy from renewable sources in new orand refurbished buildings. Any exemption from those minimum levels shall be transparent and based on criteria relating to:

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 4 – point b

~~(b) local limitations in the availability of renewable energy resources.~~deleted

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Britta THOMSEN, Mechtild ROTHE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Member States shall develop guidance for planners, engineers and architects so that they are able properly to consider the use of waste energy from all energy resources for district heating and cooling (and block heating and cooling), when planning, designing, building and renovating industrial or residential areas.

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1

5. ~~With respect to their building regulations~~In their support schemes for energy from renewable sources in heating and co~~des~~oling, Member States shall ~~promote the use~~differentiate in favour of renewable energy heating and cooling systems and equipment that achieve a significant reduction of energy consumption. Member States shall use energy or eco-labels or other appropriate certificates or standards developed at national or European level, where these exist, as the basis for encouraging such systems and equipment.

2008/06/26
Committee: ITRE

Britta THOMSEN, Eluned MORGAN

Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1

1. Member States shall take all the necessary steps to develop grid infrastructure to accommodate the further development of electricity production from renewable energy sources, including interconnectors between Member States.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 2

2. Without prejudice to the maintenance of the reliability and safety of the grid, and insofar as the security of the national electricity system permits: (a) Member States shall ensure that transmission system operators and distribution system operators in their territory guarantee the priority connection, transmission and distribution of electricity produced from renewable energy sources~~. They shall also~~ and ensure that the responsible system operators optimise, reinforce and extend the grid following a reasonable request from a renewable energy producer to ensure priority connection, access, transmission, distribution and dispatch of electricity produced from renewable energy sources; (b) Member States shall provide for priority access to the grid system of electricity produced from renewable energy sources. W(c) when dispatching electricity generating installations, transmission system operators shall give priority to generating installations using renewable energy sources ~~insofar as the security of the national electricity~~. (d) Members States shall ensure that the responsible system operators take all appropriate grid and market related operational measures to minimise the losses of electricity produced from renewable energy sources; Members States shall ensure that the responsible system oper~~mits~~ators report publicly and without undue delay on the issues and measures taken.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Member States shall require transmission system operators and distribution system operators to provide comprehensive and detailed information concerning the transmission systems to any new producers wishing to be connected to the transmission and distribution grid. This information should include data concerning transmission capacity already attributed and that still available.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 5

5. Member States shall require transmission system operators and distribution system operators to provide any new producer wishing to be connected to the system with: a) a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the costs associated with the connection~~. Member States may allow producers of electricity from renewable energy sources wishing to be connected to the grid to issue a call for tender for the connection work~~; b) a reasonable and precise timetable for receipt and processing the request for grid connection; c) a reasonable and precise timetable for an effective grid connection Member States shall define provisions imposing sanctions in case of non- compliance with the rules listed under (a), (b) and (c) of this article.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – title

~~Environmental s~~Sustainability criteria for biofuels and other bioliquids

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – first sentence

1. BIrrespective of whether the raw materials were cultivated inside or outside the territory of the Community, biofuels and other bioliquids shall be taken into account for the purposes listed under letters (a), (b) and (c) below only if they fulfil the criteria set out in paragraphs 2 to 5:

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1

2. The greenhouse gas emission saving from the use of biofuels and other bioliquids taken into account for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 shall be at least 35% and will rise to at least 50% in 1 January 2014 and 60% in 1 January 2017.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1

3. Biofuels and other bioliquids taken into account for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be made from raw material obtained from land with ~~recognised~~ high biodiversity value, that is to say land that had one of the following statuses in or after January 2008, whether or not the land still has this status: (a) forest undisturbed by significant human activity, that is to say, forest where there has been no known significant human intervention or where the last significant human intervention was sufficiently long ago to have allowed the natural species composition and processes to have become re-established; (b) (i) areas designated ~~for nature protection purposes~~by law or by the relevant competent authority for nature protection purposes, or (ii) areas for the protection of rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems or species recognised by international agreements or included in lists drawn up by intergovernmental or international non-governmental organisations, subject to their recognition in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 16(4), second subparagraph, unless evidence is provided that the production of that raw material did not interfere with those purposes; (c) highly biodiverse grassland, that is to say grassland that is species-rich, not fertilised and not degraded.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Biofuels and other bioliquids shall not be taken into account for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 unless effective measures have been taken to prevent: (a) deterioration of surface and groundwater quality by inputs of pollutants and excessive amounts of nutrients; (b) excessive water consumption in areas where water is scarce.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Irrespective of whether the raw materials were cultivated inside or outside the territory of the Community, biofuels and other bioliquids shall not be taken into account for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 unless information has been provided in accordance with Article 16 of this Directive, in relation to the production of biofuels and other bioliquids, and of their raw materials, on: i. the right to use the land can be demonstrated and is not legitimately contested by local communities with demonstrable legal or customary rights; ii. local people are compensated for any agreed land acquisitions and relinquishment of rights, subject to their free, prior and informed consent and agreements negotiated through their own institutions; iii. no raw material shall be cultivated on land obtained for that purpose through forced eviction; iv. the production of raw materials for biofuels, other bioliquids shall not use or support forced labour including bonded labour as well as child labour as defined by ILO conventions 29, 105, 138, 182; v. all workers have legal contracts and should be remunerated fairly including the right to organise and bargain collectively and freedom of discrimination as defined by ILO conventions 100, 111, 87, 98.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 5 c (new)

5c. Where appropriate, smallholder farmers, producer organisations and cooperatives will be able apply for group certification schemes in case designed auditing procedures place disproportionate administrative burden on them.

2008/07/01
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – title

Verification of compliance with the ~~environmental~~ sustainability criteria for biofuels and other bioliquids

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1

1. Where biofuels and other bioliquids are to be taken into account for the purposes referred to in Article 15(1), Member States shall require economic operators to show that the ~~environmental~~ sustainability criteria set out in Article 15 have been fulfilled. For this purpose they shall require economic operators to use a mass balance system providing the following:

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1

4. The Commission ~~may decide that~~shall conclude bilateral and multilateral agreements between the Community and third countries ~~demonstrate that biofuels and other bioliquid~~to guarantee that energy from biomass produced from raw materials cultivated in those countries comply with the environmental sustainability criteria in paragraphs 3 ~~or 4~~, 4, 7a and 8 of Article 15. The agreements will include measures to guarantee participation of SMEs.

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2

The Commission may decide that voluntary national or international schemes setting standards for the production of biomass products contain accurate data for the purposes of Article 15(2) or demonstrate that consignments of ~~biofuel~~energy from biomass comply with the environmental sustainability criteria in paragraphs 3 or 4 of Article 15.

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 18 – paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Member States shall take measures to guarantee sufficient fuelling options for zero-emission vehicles.

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 19 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) progress made in urban planning procedures with regard to the enhanced used of district heating and cooling from renewable sources;

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Britta THOMSEN, Eluned MORGAN

Proposal for a directive
Article 20 – paragraph 5

5. In its reports, the Commission shall analyse: (a) the relative environmental and social benefits and costs of different biofuels, the effects of the Community's import policies thereon, the security of supply implications and the ways of achieving a balanced approach between domestic production and imports; (b) the impact of increased demand for biofuel on sustainability in the Community and in third countries; (c) the impact of EU biofuel policy on the availability of foodstuffs in exporting countries and on the price development of raw materials, the impact report shall in particular focus on Low Income Food Deficit Countries and Least Developed Countries, the ability of and access to people in developing countries to afford and access these foodstuffs, and wider development issues; ~~and~~ (d) the impact of increased demand for biomass on biomass using sectors. ~~It shall, if appropriate,~~(da) the availability of biofuels made from wastes, residues, non-food cellulosic material and ligno-cellulosic material. (db) the impact of EU biofuel policy on direct and indirect land use change and the implications for land use rights It shall propose corrective action.

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE

Proposal for a directive
Article 20 – paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. In its reports the Commission shall also analyse the policies implemented by those Member States where there is a potential for offshore wind development, particularly whether those Member States have: (a) established a single administrative body responsible for processing authorisation, certification and licensing applications for offshore wind installations and providing assistance to applicants; (b) identified the need for long-term and strategic grid planning to incorporate large amounts of electricity from offshore wind farms; (c) established marine spatial planning instruments to reach optimal site selection. It shall, if appropriate, propose further legislation to ensure the timely deployment of offshore wind.

2008/07/02
Committee: ITRE