Did the EU Just Approve the Use of Palm-based Biofuels?
Recent decisions by the European Union’s legislative bodies may have kept open market access to palm-based biofuels.
What is notable about the recent legislations is that they appear to have kept the windows of opportunity open to the use of palm-based feedstocks for the EU’s need for biofuels.
What is notable about the recent legislations is that they appear to have kept the windows of opportunity open to the use of palm-based feedstocks for the EU’s need for biofuels.
Germany set to halt palm oil use in biofuels from 2023
The multi-layered legislative process in the European Union (EU) legislative process is primarily governed by the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP), where the European Commission proposes legislation, and the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union act as co-legislators to negotiate, amend, and jointly adopt the law.
There are no easy decisions based on this legislative process where the European Commission holds the exclusive right to propose laws but is not a co-legislator. The Parliament and Council must jointly adopt the identical text, which frequently leads to clashes over policy ambition, scope, and implementation details.
The most recent clash was fought over the iLUC status of soybeans in the EU’s renewable energy mix which looked like it was a sure thing.
The USDA reported in April 2026 that the European Union would Phase Out the Use of Soy-based Biofuels
This follows an earlier announcement by Transport & Environment that the EU would phase out damaging soy.
"Soy biofuels will no longer count towards EU renewable targets, with new EU Commission research confirming they contribute significantly to deforestation."
Despite Transport & Environment’s confidence in the removal of soy biofuels from the EU’s renewable targets, the European Parliament blocked the EU Commission’s move to strip soy-based biofuels of their renewable status, which would have phased out their contribution to European Union renewable energy targets by 2030.
This prompted the Malaysian Palm Oil Council to demand consistency from the European Union (EU) to apply a uniform, science-based standard to all biofuel feedstocks, following the European Parliament’s decision to reject a European Commission proposal that would have classified soybean oil as a high indirect land-use change (iLUC) risk feedstock under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
The MPOC presented that “Malaysia’s long-standing position is that the EU’s iLUC methodology is discriminatory and inadequately supported by current data, a position reflected in the findings of the World Trade Organization panel in Malaysia’s dispute with the EU over these measures.”
We wrote earlier on how the acceptance of soy biofuels despite all the evidence of iLUC created an opportunity for Malaysia which has avowed to a no-deforestation policy for its palm oil productions.
The EU Commission’s Sham a Problem for Palm Oil Producing Countries to Overcome
It is quite pathetic to see the EU Commission struggle with grand green ambitions with little regard for how the world works.
Paying groups like Transport & Environment (T&E) which claims to be “Europe's leading clean transport campaign group, heavily focused on accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs)” to push the EU Commission’s agenda smells like a sham.
MEP Paolo Borchia raised some troubling questions to the EU Commission regarding the Commission’s funding of T&E under the LIFE and Horizon2020 programmes.
These questions remain half answered.
In a separate report from Euronews:
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin conceded that some financing from the EU’s €5.4 billion environmental programme LIFE may have been inappropriate.
“I have to admit that it was inappropriate for some services in the Commission to enter into agreements that oblige NGOs to lobby members of the European Parliament specifically,” he said. But he also defended the role of NGOs in EU policy making.
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin is quoted in a report by Azerbaijan news service ANewsZ that reported the EU Commission may have crossed a line to influence EU lawmakers by tapping into the LIFE fundings to create popular media campaigns to drive the Commission's agenda.
It is obvious that palm oil producing countries will never be able to overcome the political struggles in the EU. Especially when the legislative proposals come from the Commission which is willing to pay NGOs to influence the legislative process drawing from a massive billion Euro funding mechanism.
If control of industries and more EVs in Europe’s transport are the paid-for-agenda for lobbyists like Transport & Environment, this report from Euronews Green and AP must be seen as a failure of their lobbying.
“The EU has softened its 2035 car emissions ban, raising questions about climate targets and the pace of EV adoption.
But it does mean manufacturers will still be able to sell a limited number of polluting vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles with small combustion engines to extend their range and petrol and diesel cars, past 2035.
To do so, they will have to compensate for the remaining 10 per cent of emissions from these kinds of cars using two avenues. The first is by using low-carbon steel made in the EU. The second is out of their control and will come with the use of e-fuels or biofuels.”
The greater waste of the EU Commission’s funding for Transport & Environment may be in the failure of the agenda to protect EU industries.
T&E’s aggressive push for EVs as a solution to decarbonizing EU transport has driven the key sector in transport into the well prepared arms of China’s EV industry.
China’s EV makers are reportedly taking over the European factories Ford and Nissan can’t fill. What seems like a rescue could prove to be a retreat, as Chery leads its rivals into the heart of Europe’s car industry.
EU Parliament Reality Checks EU Commission
By rejecting the EU Commission’s proposal to phase out soy-based biofuels, the European Parliament may have extended a hand to palm oil producing countries to prove that their palm-based biofuels could be a solution for the EU’s renewable energy needs.
This is not a bad thing. Palm wastes could actually help EU agriculture to become regenerative according to Augustus Bambridge-Sutton from Food Navigator.
It could be a good thing if EU legislators dropped all the green drama paid for by the EU Commission and get on the renewable energy track or risk being left behind again.
The issue here is that the EU has major problems with meeting its stated ambitions to reduce emissions from its transport sectors.
The European Union faces a critical shortage of domestic biofuel capacity, driven by limited sustainable biomass availability and strict land-use regulations. The EU's Renewable Energy Directive mandates a 29% share of renewable energy in transport by 2030, but supply bottlenecks and a historic reliance on imported food-crop feedstocks severely hinder its progress. ALICE
The simple fact is that the EU simply does not have have enough home-grown supplies of “sustainable” feedstocks for biofuels.
Excessive green demands like those favored by the EU Commission and its paid actors have seen the closure of numerous biofuels plants across Europe and the United Kingdom.
NGO Silence
Seen in this grim reality of the EU’s failure to decarbonize transport emissions, it should come as no surprise that waste palm oil derivatives used as feedstock for biofuels have been exempted from the EU’s Deforestation Regulations.
According to an exclusive report from EURACTIV
"Palm-derived chemicals used to manufacture human and veterinary medicines would be exempt, along with waste palm oil derivatives used as feedstock for biofuels."
There is silence from the usually talkative T&E on this decision as of this writing.
Earthsight UK did pipe up which warranted a look into who or what Earthsight is.
In an “analysis” published July 08, 2026 titled “Exemptions for 'waste' palm oil under EUDR contradict EU policy and threaten forests” Earthsight repeated the usual accusations against palm oil biofuels ad nauseam.
Here’s a note to whichever EU official is looking into paid interference or influence in EU policies.
It's not clear whether Earthsight Investigations Limited, Company number 06071838 belongs to the same people who owns EARTHSIGHT Company number 09651082 which has an overdue statement.
Current filings with the UK’s company information service indicates that Earthsight Investigations Limited has “two” officers who share a common name.
MACDONALD LAWSON, Samuel and MACDONALD-LAWSON, Samuel Alexander.
Regardless of who is profiting richly off the EU's LIFE program, the bottomline here is not whether the EU will include the use of palm oil based biofuels but whether it will get a chance to tap into palm oil waste biofuels.
The USDA’s latest report on palm wastes biofuels said that:
"Foreign investments into Malaysian palm oil waste biofuels are rapidly shifting toward Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and advanced biomass, driven by strict EU regulations and Malaysia's National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR). Global firms are heavily funding zero-waste conversion of solid biomass and palm oil mill effluent (POME) into high-value advanced fuel."
Investor interest in waste products created by its palm oil industry has been spurred by data on how much bioenergy is available. According to a report by Bioenergy Insight:
"Malaysia's Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) has identified 51.88 MW of potential power generation capacity from palm oil mills that could be developed in Peninsular Malaysia, according to deputy energy transition and water transformation minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad."
The same potential for biomass exists in Indonesia according to its palm oil industry association, GAPKI.
"Indonesia has potential of biomass for bioenergy production up to 83.4 million tons per year, but so far it is only realized at around 22 million tons."
Palm oil biomass remains a key feedstock for Indonesia’s decarbonization agenda which banned crude POME and UCO exports to support domestic energy security and the aviation fuel industry.
This had led to a financial boom for Singapore-listed palm oil stocks which often include Indonesian palm oil corporations accused of deforestation.
How will the EU respond in the coming days to its shortfalls in economic competitiveness and decarbonization attempts?
Published July 23, 2026. CSPO Watch
There are no easy decisions based on this legislative process where the European Commission holds the exclusive right to propose laws but is not a co-legislator. The Parliament and Council must jointly adopt the identical text, which frequently leads to clashes over policy ambition, scope, and implementation details.
The most recent clash was fought over the iLUC status of soybeans in the EU’s renewable energy mix which looked like it was a sure thing.
The USDA reported in April 2026 that the European Union would Phase Out the Use of Soy-based Biofuels
This follows an earlier announcement by Transport & Environment that the EU would phase out damaging soy.
"Soy biofuels will no longer count towards EU renewable targets, with new EU Commission research confirming they contribute significantly to deforestation."
Despite Transport & Environment’s confidence in the removal of soy biofuels from the EU’s renewable targets, the European Parliament blocked the EU Commission’s move to strip soy-based biofuels of their renewable status, which would have phased out their contribution to European Union renewable energy targets by 2030.
This prompted the Malaysian Palm Oil Council to demand consistency from the European Union (EU) to apply a uniform, science-based standard to all biofuel feedstocks, following the European Parliament’s decision to reject a European Commission proposal that would have classified soybean oil as a high indirect land-use change (iLUC) risk feedstock under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
The MPOC presented that “Malaysia’s long-standing position is that the EU’s iLUC methodology is discriminatory and inadequately supported by current data, a position reflected in the findings of the World Trade Organization panel in Malaysia’s dispute with the EU over these measures.”
We wrote earlier on how the acceptance of soy biofuels despite all the evidence of iLUC created an opportunity for Malaysia which has avowed to a no-deforestation policy for its palm oil productions.
The EU Commission’s Sham a Problem for Palm Oil Producing Countries to Overcome
It is quite pathetic to see the EU Commission struggle with grand green ambitions with little regard for how the world works.
Paying groups like Transport & Environment (T&E) which claims to be “Europe's leading clean transport campaign group, heavily focused on accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs)” to push the EU Commission’s agenda smells like a sham.
MEP Paolo Borchia raised some troubling questions to the EU Commission regarding the Commission’s funding of T&E under the LIFE and Horizon2020 programmes.
- Is the Commission financing an entity whose purpose is to influence the Commission’s decision-making process?
- Is it true that T&E studies in support of their positions, for example against LNG production and use, are often criticised for being scientifically unfounded, as they are not validated by peer reviews, as required by academic standards?
- Is it true that T&E which receives some 44 % of its funding from US entities, although it does not engage in lobbying in the US, while it has supported regulatory interventions which have been responsible for reducing European industrial competitiveness vis-à-vis competitors such as the US?
These questions remain half answered.
In a separate report from Euronews:
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin conceded that some financing from the EU’s €5.4 billion environmental programme LIFE may have been inappropriate.
“I have to admit that it was inappropriate for some services in the Commission to enter into agreements that oblige NGOs to lobby members of the European Parliament specifically,” he said. But he also defended the role of NGOs in EU policy making.
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin is quoted in a report by Azerbaijan news service ANewsZ that reported the EU Commission may have crossed a line to influence EU lawmakers by tapping into the LIFE fundings to create popular media campaigns to drive the Commission's agenda.
It is obvious that palm oil producing countries will never be able to overcome the political struggles in the EU. Especially when the legislative proposals come from the Commission which is willing to pay NGOs to influence the legislative process drawing from a massive billion Euro funding mechanism.
If control of industries and more EVs in Europe’s transport are the paid-for-agenda for lobbyists like Transport & Environment, this report from Euronews Green and AP must be seen as a failure of their lobbying.
“The EU has softened its 2035 car emissions ban, raising questions about climate targets and the pace of EV adoption.
But it does mean manufacturers will still be able to sell a limited number of polluting vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles with small combustion engines to extend their range and petrol and diesel cars, past 2035.
To do so, they will have to compensate for the remaining 10 per cent of emissions from these kinds of cars using two avenues. The first is by using low-carbon steel made in the EU. The second is out of their control and will come with the use of e-fuels or biofuels.”
The greater waste of the EU Commission’s funding for Transport & Environment may be in the failure of the agenda to protect EU industries.
T&E’s aggressive push for EVs as a solution to decarbonizing EU transport has driven the key sector in transport into the well prepared arms of China’s EV industry.
China’s EV makers are reportedly taking over the European factories Ford and Nissan can’t fill. What seems like a rescue could prove to be a retreat, as Chery leads its rivals into the heart of Europe’s car industry.
EU Parliament Reality Checks EU Commission
By rejecting the EU Commission’s proposal to phase out soy-based biofuels, the European Parliament may have extended a hand to palm oil producing countries to prove that their palm-based biofuels could be a solution for the EU’s renewable energy needs.
This is not a bad thing. Palm wastes could actually help EU agriculture to become regenerative according to Augustus Bambridge-Sutton from Food Navigator.
It could be a good thing if EU legislators dropped all the green drama paid for by the EU Commission and get on the renewable energy track or risk being left behind again.
The issue here is that the EU has major problems with meeting its stated ambitions to reduce emissions from its transport sectors.
The European Union faces a critical shortage of domestic biofuel capacity, driven by limited sustainable biomass availability and strict land-use regulations. The EU's Renewable Energy Directive mandates a 29% share of renewable energy in transport by 2030, but supply bottlenecks and a historic reliance on imported food-crop feedstocks severely hinder its progress. ALICE
The simple fact is that the EU simply does not have have enough home-grown supplies of “sustainable” feedstocks for biofuels.
Excessive green demands like those favored by the EU Commission and its paid actors have seen the closure of numerous biofuels plants across Europe and the United Kingdom.
- Shell (Rotterdam, Netherlands): Scrapped construction on one of Europe's largest planned biofuels plants, writing off nearly $1 billion
- BP (Rotterdam, Netherlands): Halted work on a proposed Rotterdam biofuels plant as part of a broader pullback from European renewable diesel and SAF projects.
- Greenergy (Immingham, UK): Permanently closed its large-scale biodiesel plant due to poor market conditions, cheap imports, and regulatory uncertainty.
- Chevron (Oeding, Germany): Furloughed workers and idled its biodiesel plant due to depressed market prices.
NGO Silence
Seen in this grim reality of the EU’s failure to decarbonize transport emissions, it should come as no surprise that waste palm oil derivatives used as feedstock for biofuels have been exempted from the EU’s Deforestation Regulations.
According to an exclusive report from EURACTIV
"Palm-derived chemicals used to manufacture human and veterinary medicines would be exempt, along with waste palm oil derivatives used as feedstock for biofuels."
There is silence from the usually talkative T&E on this decision as of this writing.
Earthsight UK did pipe up which warranted a look into who or what Earthsight is.
In an “analysis” published July 08, 2026 titled “Exemptions for 'waste' palm oil under EUDR contradict EU policy and threaten forests” Earthsight repeated the usual accusations against palm oil biofuels ad nauseam.
Here’s a note to whichever EU official is looking into paid interference or influence in EU policies.
It's not clear whether Earthsight Investigations Limited, Company number 06071838 belongs to the same people who owns EARTHSIGHT Company number 09651082 which has an overdue statement.
Current filings with the UK’s company information service indicates that Earthsight Investigations Limited has “two” officers who share a common name.
MACDONALD LAWSON, Samuel and MACDONALD-LAWSON, Samuel Alexander.
Regardless of who is profiting richly off the EU's LIFE program, the bottomline here is not whether the EU will include the use of palm oil based biofuels but whether it will get a chance to tap into palm oil waste biofuels.
The USDA’s latest report on palm wastes biofuels said that:
"Foreign investments into Malaysian palm oil waste biofuels are rapidly shifting toward Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and advanced biomass, driven by strict EU regulations and Malaysia's National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR). Global firms are heavily funding zero-waste conversion of solid biomass and palm oil mill effluent (POME) into high-value advanced fuel."
Investor interest in waste products created by its palm oil industry has been spurred by data on how much bioenergy is available. According to a report by Bioenergy Insight:
"Malaysia's Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) has identified 51.88 MW of potential power generation capacity from palm oil mills that could be developed in Peninsular Malaysia, according to deputy energy transition and water transformation minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad."
The same potential for biomass exists in Indonesia according to its palm oil industry association, GAPKI.
"Indonesia has potential of biomass for bioenergy production up to 83.4 million tons per year, but so far it is only realized at around 22 million tons."
Palm oil biomass remains a key feedstock for Indonesia’s decarbonization agenda which banned crude POME and UCO exports to support domestic energy security and the aviation fuel industry.
This had led to a financial boom for Singapore-listed palm oil stocks which often include Indonesian palm oil corporations accused of deforestation.
How will the EU respond in the coming days to its shortfalls in economic competitiveness and decarbonization attempts?
Published July 23, 2026. CSPO Watch