Farmers Defend Biofuels as Part of EU’s Upcoming ‘Protein Strategy’

by Sarantis Michalopoulos (EURACTIV.com) There is a need to maintain the EU’s main source of protein feed that are the co-product of biofuels, the European farmers association Copa-Cogeca told EURACTIV.com as the Commission announced its intention to draw up an EU-wide “protein strategy”.

Speaking at a meeting of EU farm ministers on 19 February 2018, EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan presented the idea of an EU protein strategy.

“Plant proteins are essential for EU farming, since they are a vital component of animal feed, as a source of amino-acids for livestock,” he said.

EU demand amounts to around 45 million tonnes of crude protein per year, of which one third is met by soya, the Irish Commissioner added.

Pekka Pesonen, the secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, told EURACTIV that from an EU food chain and protein supply point of view, EU crop-based biofuel sectors provide a valuable source of protein-rich cake for feed purposes.

Similar concerns were recently voiced by Marijana Petir, a Croatian MEP (European People’s Party), who said this should be a powerful argument against phasing out first-generation biofuels.

Not only would this leave farmers more dependent on imports but “in contrast to the feed produced by the EU biofuel industry those imports will be based on genetically modified (GMO) material,” she said.

EURACTIV asked the Commission whether it saw a contradiction between plans to phase-out crop-based biofuels and the upcoming EU protein strategy. But its answer was muted.

“At this early stage of development it is premature to comment on what is going to be the future content of the EU protein plan,” Commission sources replied.

“Therefore, we talk about multiple sources of proteins. We know that protein crops potentially are good for the environment (for instance nitrogen-fixing leguminous species), but they need a boost for their performance by modern plant breeding techniques (NPBTs).”

The term NPBTs describes a number of scientific methods that genetically engineer plants to enhance traits like drought tolerance and pest resistance. The debate revolves whether these techniques should be classed as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and should, therefore, fall under the EU’s strict GMO approval process. A crucial Court decision expected to provide more clarity on the issue is due in May this year.

The Copa Cogeca official noted that most of these plants do not yield enough but on top of this, there is a need to maintain the main source of EU protein feed, co-product of biofuels.

“And we must reconsider the use of slaughter-co-product, Processed Animal Proteins at least in some specific species, like fish. Unfortunately, none of them alone would massively alter our current high dependence on imported protein meal, reaching to 70-80% level,” he concluded. READ MORE