21
May
2026
Watch
Need for an adaptation of the EU legal framework on sustainable biofuels (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, on the subject of biofuels, we have a very substantial history, with enormous discussions, often geared to deepening, sometimes geared, let us say, to limitation, to hyperregulation - it is an old habit of the European institutions - but what is certain is that today we have a clear picture of biofuels. They are a solid tool to support some of the pillars of our agenda, firstly decarbonisation – as has been said – secondly diversification and thirdly reducing the dependency of the European Union. For this reason, it is useful to step up the use of biofuels in the transport sectors – as has been said – in the aviation sector, in the maritime sector, but also in road transport. That's why? For two reasons. The first is that it is a tool whose integration with agricultural supply chains is documented. Of course, it must be checked, but it is in everyone's eyes. Secondly, because road transport – and we are seeing this in the revision of the CO emissions regulation2 for light-duty vehicles – it needs tools that support the principle of technological neutrality, and biofuels are perfect in this regard. Why? Because they are available and because they do not require huge infrastructure investments, neither on the infrastructure equipment, in fact, nor on the fleet of light vehicles. The attention in this regard is enormous and therefore we, of course, hope that also from a regulatory point of view there will be the ability to follow the principle of regulatory simplification. We have – as the Commissioner has pointed out – a directive on this subject and it is therefore important that, in the CO emissions regulation,2 in the atmosphere, there are no new constraints, but there is a reference to that directive in its evolution.