European Green Deal: new law agreed to cut aviation emissions by promoting sustainable aviation fuels

The Commission welcomes the ambitious political agreement on the ReFuelEU Aviation proposal, reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council. Once in place, the new rules will help decarbonise the aviation sector by requiring fuel suppliers to blend sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with kerosene in increasing amounts from 2025.

This measure on its own is projected to reduce aircraft CO2 emissions by around two-thirds by 2050 compared to a ‘no action’ scenario, and provide climate and air quality benefits by reducing non-CO2 emissions.

This new mandate will ensure a level playing field within the EU internal market, provide legal certainty to fuel producers and help kick-start large-scale production across the continent. It will also increase the EU’s energy security by reducing dependencies on third-country sourced energy products and create thousands of new jobs in the energy sector.

The deal marks the last agreement on the transport proposals within the ‘Fit for 55’ package.