On March 27, 2025, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an , calling for A European Liquid Fuels Strategy for a Sustainable, Affordable, and Resilient Low-Carbon Transition. The EESC represents various social and occupational interest groups and civil society organizations. It provides opinions on EU laws and proposals to advise the European Parliament, Council of the EU and European Commission. However, the EESC does not have any legislative powers or roles. EESC members are nominated by EU national governments and appointed by the Council of the EU. They are independent and perform their duties in the interest of all EU citizens.
The EESC emphasizes the development of an EU strategy on sustainable liquid fuels, i.e. biofuels and e-fuels, as essential to the green transition towards zero emissions, especially in sectors with electrification challenges such as aviation and shipping. The opinion refers to challenges related to legislative uncertainty, poor links between markets and the legislation, lack of investment in new facilities and the feedstock supply chain.
As an example of the legislative uncertainty, the opinion refers to the absence of clear timelines for some EU regulations, and the inconsistency in the eligibility criteria for bio-feedstocks across the ReFuelEU Aviation , the FuelEU Maritime and the Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III, ). Similarly, the EU regulations adopt the carbon life cycle approach, while CO2 emission performance standards for vehicles, i.e. and are based on a ‘tank-to-wheel’ approach.
As an example of the poor link between the market and legislation, the opinion questions the applicability of the mandates for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending set by the ReFuelEU Aviation legislation, in terms of the anticipated inadequate supply due to underinvestment in production capacity.
Therefore, the opinion includes the following recommendations to promote the use of sustainable liquid fuels in the EU:
•ensuring an efficient supply chain of feedstocks used in fuel production, e.g. access to the affordable clean electricity required for synthetic fuels, reliable access to sustainable biomass and waste required for biofuels
•reducing the fuel production costs by scaling up production capacity
•using the existing infrastructure for sustainable liquid fuels whenever possible, e.g. pipelines and refineries, to avoid the high costs of building new infrastructure
•providing legislative stability regarding the targets and eligibility criteria of sustainable fuel production projects, which helps to mobilize the massive private and public investments of EUR 650 billion
•harmonizing standards for fuel blending capabilities and properties across the EU, to enable the comparability of fuels
•offering tax reduction, based on the climate impact of each fuel type, similar to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, to incentivize investments in renewable fuels