Fourth plenary of Sustainable Transport Forum of the European Commission
The Sustainable Transport Forum gathered on November 28 in Brussels for its fourth Plenary meeting.
The Forum brings together Member States and alternative fuel industry stakeholders to encourage the dialogue on issues related to the implementation process of the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive.
During the meeting, we heard about the Member States’ plans for the development of the alternative fuels market and the deployment of the relevant infrastructure, including refueling stations. Many countries are finalizing the transposition of the whole Directive and only a few of them were ready to submit the plans. This should however not delay the publication of a comprehensive report by the Commission by the end of next year.
The Forum represents also the opportunity to know the last EU initiatives related to alternative fuels, as the Clean Alternatively Fueled Buses initiative. Through a jointly action on public procurements, standardization, energy taxation and funding program in cooperation with the European Investment Bank, the European Commission wants to support the shift to a more climate friendly fueled bus fleets in the European cities.
Within the Forum four sub-groups are tackling specific issues, among which advanced biofuels, where EBA is an active member. Together with relevant industry stakeholders, a number of recommendations considering production costs and availability potential of advanced biofuels have been put forward. NGOs representatives in the group raised the issue of sustainability and the importance of taking this criterion into account when assessing future uptake. At the next plenary, the Forum will be called to adopt the recommendations to be used as a reference for the upcoming negotiations of the Renewable Energy Directive with the other co-legislators.
The next Plenary will take place in June 2017.
