MEPs have accused the European Commission of failing to be transparent about scientific studies on biofuels. At least four MEPs from three different groups say they are waiting for answers about biofuels and their impact on land use, two months after the deadline for a  Commission response. 

Claude Turmes, a Luxembourgeois Green MEP, who led negotiations for the Parliament on the renewable energy directive, said that the Commission was “hiding away studies and data from the broader public”.

“It is a scandal that after 13 weeks they have not answered,” he told European Voice, adding that he would write to Günther Oettinger, the European commissioner for energy, to ask why his department had failed to produce answers. He claimed that the Commission was “afraid of an open discussion on this.”

Fiona Hall a UK Liberal MEP, said that the Commission was now six weeks late in answering a similar set of questions. She has been told to expect a reply next week. “I am disappointed, because I think there has been a lack of transparency on the part of the Commission,” she said.

Transparency problem

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Sirpa Pietikäinen, a Finnish centre-right MEP, said that “there might be a problem” with transparency. She had not had any response from the Commission. “At the very least, the Commission should give an explanation for the delay. We haven’t had that,” she said.

The complaints follow a decision by green campaigners to sue the Commission for failing to hand over documents required under EU freedom-of-information rules. The Commission has handed over some of the documents and has described the litigation as premature.

The conflicts arise from questions over whether and how the Commission should regulate for the unintended effects of biofuels production on land use. The EU is aiming for 10% of transport energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. Some EU safeguards exist to exclude biofuels with a heavy carbon footprint, but there are no EU rules on indirect land-use change – when increasing biofuels production in one area squeezes food production onto forests or grassland.

Internal studies

The MEPs want to know when the Commission will publish internal studies undertaken by its agriculture, trade and research departments on the subject, and what progress the Commission has made on designing a formula that takes these effects into account when biofuels are used.

“It is a complex issue,” Hall ackknowledged, adding that she had “sympathy” for the Commission. But she insisted: “It is in their own interests to be completely transparent.”

A spokeswoman for Oettinger said that the cabinet had responded to all questions on time, with a delay of one day in two cases.