ECIPE Seminar: Reforming Biofuels Policy in Europe: RED, ILUC and the Role of Trade Policy

The European Union is about to reform its biofuels policy. A proposal from the Commission is now addressed in the European Parliament, which will have its first plenary vote in September. What direction should the EU take when it is reforming its biofuels policy: should conventional biofuels be encouraged or discouraged? Could a concept like ILUC be established without creating perpetual problems of accuracy and fairness in the way ILUC emissions are estimated and used? And will the new proposals make EU policy more consistent with rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – or will policy have to be changed after dispute(s) in the WTO?