In the midst of faltering climate change negotiations in Cancun, the European Union has ignored protests from developing countries and has imposed new trade restrictions on imports of cheaper biofuels, which trade experts assess as breaching WTO rules.
The measure, which came into effect on December 5, is included in a new directive to promote use of renewable energy. The measure provides large subsidies for EU-sourced biofuels and discriminates against imports of more competitive biofuels from developing countries.
However, an analysis of the measure by European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), the leading Brussels-based research organization, shows the measure would not be allowed under WTO rules.
Leading developing country producers of biofuels like Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesial requested the EU to address the problems with the directive.
Alan Oxley, the Chairman of World Growth, a pro-development NGO, released the following statement:
This sort of climate bullying will further impede efforts to forge a new global agreement. Why would the EU persist with such a flawed measure when it professes to want to build a cooperative global approach on climate change with developing countries?
The only coherent explanation is a determination to use trade coercion to force its environmental agenda on developing countries, regardless of the economic cost of such measures.
The negotiations in Cancun have produced warnings from countries like India saying measures which constrained economic growth were unacceptable.
The EU was already using trade measures to restrict imports of supposed illegally logged timber products when the incidence of such imports was low and the evidence poor.
The EU action confirms the importance of initiation by World Growth of a new program to draw attention to the rising threat of green protectionism.
The measure, which came into effect on December 5, is included in a new directive to promote use of renewable energy. The measure provides large subsidies for EU-sourced biofuels and discriminates against imports of more competitive biofuels from developing countries.
However, an analysis of the measure by European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), the leading Brussels-based research organization, shows the measure would not be allowed under WTO rules.
Leading developing country producers of biofuels like Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesial requested the EU to address the problems with the directive.
Alan Oxley, the Chairman of World Growth, a pro-development NGO, released the following statement:
This sort of climate bullying will further impede efforts to forge a new global agreement. Why would the EU persist with such a flawed measure when it professes to want to build a cooperative global approach on climate change with developing countries?
The only coherent explanation is a determination to use trade coercion to force its environmental agenda on developing countries, regardless of the economic cost of such measures.
The negotiations in Cancun have produced warnings from countries like India saying measures which constrained economic growth were unacceptable.
The EU was already using trade measures to restrict imports of supposed illegally logged timber products when the incidence of such imports was low and the evidence poor.
The EU action confirms the importance of initiation by World Growth of a new program to draw attention to the rising threat of green protectionism.
