(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

Detailed recommendations
To the EU and its Member States:
1. Fulfil their obligations
a. Respect their legal obligations with regards to human rights and policy
coherence for development and mainstream human rights and extra
territorial obligations (ETOs) in the work on biofuels and land. Advice
should be sought from DG Justice or from outside experts to ensure
that, as a minimum, the policies related to land and biofuels fully
respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Treaty on European
Union (in particular articles 2, 3 and 21), the Treaty on the Functioning
of the European Union (in particular article 208; Policy Coherence for
Development - PCD) and general international law, and do not
contradict EU Member States’ obligations under UN human rights
conventions. Mainstreaming of PCD and human rights issues should be
extended to the EEAS and all relevant Directorate Generals of the
European Commission, including DG Trade, Energy, Agriculture and
others. It should not be relegated toa single body.
b. Fully review the impact of the EU biofuel policy against the policy
objectives for development, in particular the food security development
objectives set out in the 2010 framework communication (COM(2010)
127 Final), in cooperation with the relevant DGs.
c. Practice systematic coordination in carrying out the assessment of the
respect of EU policies in relation to PCD and to respect for human
rights. These assessments should be carried out with the involvement
of the EEAS and all concerned DGs, including DG DEVCO and DG
Justice.
d. Considerably increase their efforts to actively support, notably through
the work of the European Commission Delegations and Offices, access
to justice for victims of human rights violations related to the EU biofuel
policy, as relevant in the national, regional and international systems,
and/or at the EU level. Political, technical and/or financial support
should be envisaged, and DG Justice may need to be involved.
e. Set up a temporary or permanent body able to review complaints from
victims of EU policies in developing countries.
2. Drop the target for agrofuels and revise the EU biofuels policy
a. Drop the energy based target for agrofuels and freeze all policies which
encourage the use of agrofuels for the transport sector until the impacts
of agrofuels on food security, governance, the environment and human
rights have been fully and objectively assessed, and until adequate
measures have been taken to revise the EU biofuel policy so as to
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