Europe’s biofuels policy is costly and protectionist says report

In a new study of the European Union’s biofuels policy, economist Fredrik Erixon shows how biofuels policy, once motivated by environmental concerns and the desire to shift away from fossil fuels, has become an industrial policy using various measures to protect domestic producers from foreign competition. If the Renewable Energy Directive is implemented in the way the legislation has proposed, the EU is likely to run afoul of its obligations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

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