The Swedish Government has submitted a so-called pre-notification to the European Commission for the application for an extension in 2021 of the current state aid approval for liquid biofuels.
In addition, two applications for biogas for heating and for engine operation have also been submitted to the European Commission, for a period of ten years. The EU Commission will now decide on this issue, but in a statement April 3, 2020, the Swedish government said that it has had “constructive talks” with the EU Commission in recent months and considers that there are “good prospects” for an extension.
In December 2019, the European Commission presented a European Green Deal with various measures to achieve the EU’s climate and energy targets. One of the measures is to revise the guidelines for state aid for environmental protection and energy.
It is the Swedish government’s ambition to also try to “influence the EU’s view on food-based biofuels” and the opportunities to provide support for these fuels even after 2021.
Within the Government Offices, work is also underway on analyzing various opportunities for the use of highly mixed and clean biofuels to contribute to the fulfillment of Sweden’s energy and climate policy goals.
In light of the work on the guidelines and the analysis work, it is important that the current tax exemption can be maintained until this work is completed. Especially given that a “significant proportion” of the biofuels used in public transport are food-based.
