Álvaro Antón addresses ‘The Energy Tax Directive reform’ on the first chapter composing Part III of the edited book ‘Law in the EU’s Circular Energy System: Biofuel, Biowaste and Biogas‘, with regards to Cross-Sectoral Issues.
Read the Abstract below:
‘The use and development of advanced biofuels will be essential for the transition to a green, carbon-neutral economy The main challenge of advanced biofuels it that their production costs are currently higher than conventional biofuels and the fossil fuels they are intended to replace. Economic instruments for carbon pricing such as the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) or the Energy Tax Directive (ETD) could play a significant and complementary role in carrying out this intervention and make advanced biofuels cost competitive. However, the European Commission considers that, to date, none of these instruments seems to have been effective in introducing an adequate price signal to favor changes in behavior towards less polluting alternatives and, therefore, to favour renewable energy products. Specifically, the Commission considers that the Energy Tax Directive in its current version is not aligned with the rest of the objectives of the Green Deal. For that reason, the review of these instruments is part of the package of legislative reforms and proposals presented by the European Commission in 2021 (‘Fit for 55 Package’) to achieve the EU´s climate ambitions in the context of the Green Deal. Specifically, the chapter aims to analyse whether the Commission’s proposal to review the Energy Tax Directive is in conformity with the circular and energy strategy insofar that it can create incentives to produce advanced biofuels.’
