what it means for Italy and for biofuels – Corriere.it

The announcement arrived via Twitter by the vice president of the EU Commission Fran Timmermans on Saturday morning: We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars, i.e. on synthetic fuels. We will now work to get the CO2 rules adopted for the car regulation as soon as possible, he continues, and the Commission to swiftly follow up on the legal measures needed to implement Recital 11. The last obstacle to the approval of the new car regulation CO2 emissions from vehicles which effectively prohibits from 2035 the sale of new cars and vans with internal combustion engines, fueled by petrol or diesel, has been removed.

Timing: March 28 the regulation

Barring twists and turns, the Energy Council could adopt the regulation on Tuesday 28 March

: the Swedish presidency, which is leading the EU this semester, put it on the agenda at the meeting of ambassadors to the EU (Coreper 1) on Monday in view of the go-ahead from the ministers the following day. The already announced vote against by Italy and Poland and the abstention of Bulgaria (counts as a no) are not enough to form a blocking minority, which includes at least four countries representing 35% of the EU population. With the publication in the Official Gazette, the regulation will enter into force.

The process of the agreement

The European Parliament had already voted in favor in the plenary of 14 February. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already made it clear that an agreement was in the air in the press conference at the end of the Eurosummit on Friday 24 March: We will find an agreement, he said. And so it was. The agreement between Berlin and the European Commission provides that it will still be possible to sell new cars with combustion engines powered exclusively by synthetic fuels even after the entry into force of the legislation requiring the sale of new cars only with zero CO2 emissions from 2035 , so no more petrol or diesel, opening the door to the electric car.

E-fuel and biofuels: the differences

Synthetic fuels should not be confused with biofuels

(here the in-depth analysis) on which the Italian government had concentrated its battle in recent days because our country is ahead in this technology. But while e-fuels are already present in the regulation in recital 11, there is no mention of biofuels. The Commission has never considered extending the regulation to biofuels because this would have entailed the reopening of the text resulting from an agreement already closed and voted on by the EU Parliament. Berlin took advantage of the window opened by Rome with the announcement of its no because Germany thus became the tip of the balance in the vote in the Council. The German Minister of Transport Volker Wissing, of the liberale party in crisis of consensus in Germany, seized the opportunity by expressing his doubts and asking for clarifications on the text in the e-fuels part in order to preserve the production of the German motor industry burning beyond that deadline. Several leaders at the European Council, particularly among the more environmentally ambitious Nordic countries, criticized Germany’s move. The president of the EU Parliament Roberta Metsola is also tough: We cannot go back on the agreements, because in the final analysis it is a matter of trust between co-legislators and the credibility of the legislative process. Now the agreement has arrived that does not affect the already closed regulation.