Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1473070
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 JULY 2022 EUROPE These articles are part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. THE European Parliament has voted to prohibit the use of controversial biofuel feedstocks from Europe's aviation green fuel mandate, known as ReFuelEU. In a narrow vote the parliament re- jected a proposal that would have expanded the definition of sustaina- ble aviation fuels to include palm oil by-products and intermediate crops. Campaign group Transport & En- vironment (T&E) hailed the decision an important step towards decarbon- ising Europe's aviation industry, but stressed more needs to be done. T&E aviation policy officer, Matteo Mirolo, implored EU lawmakers to also exclude animal fats from biofuel production. "If we are serious about fighting cli- mate change and decarbonising avi- ation, Europe needs to make more choices like the one we witnessed [on Thursday]. Sustainable aviation fuels should have no link whatsoever to de- forestation, loss of biodiversity and in- creasing food prices," he said. Ahead of the vote, T&E, easyJet and association Airlines for Europe lobbied MEPs of the Transport Committee to draw attention to the environmental impacts of palm oil production, which causes widespread deforestation. Amid plans to scale-up production of sustainable aviation fuel, the Parlia- ment showed preference for synthetic fuels over biofuels, increasing pro- posed volumes so that by 2050 half of the total jet fuel use in Europe will be synthetic. In addition, the Commission expanded the definition of synthetic aviation fuels to renewable electricity and green hydrogen. In doing so, Mirolo said the Parlia- ment has paved the way to regulate the quality of fuel – marking a significant step towards reducing non-CO2 emis- sions that account for two thirds of avi- ation's climate impact. "Decarbonising the aviation sector is no easy task, but airlines, environmen- talists and politics alike have sided with the needs of the planet," Mirolo added. FOLLOWING a deal reached with the European Council, the European Parliament has ap- proved the final text of the Dig- ital Markets Act ("DMA") and the Digital Services Act ("DSA"). Alongside the DMA, the DSA focuses on improving safety, protecting fundamental rights in digital environments and ensuring a level playing field in the European Single Market. The DSA and DMA aim to har- monise standards and increase accountability of online servic- es. The DSA The DSA lays out clear obli- gations for digital service pro- viders (marketplaces or social media) to monitor and tackle illegal content, online disin- formation and other societal risks. These requirements are proportionate to the risks the platform poses to society. The new obligations under the DSA cover the following: • Measures to counter il- legal content online and obligations for platforms to react quickly and pro- portionately (having re- gard to both fundamental rights, the freedom of ex- pression and data protec- tion); • More robust checks on online traders to ensure products and services are safe (such as performing random checks on wheth- er illegal content resur- faces); • Increased transparen- cy and accountability of platforms (such ensuring clear information about content moderation or the use of algorithms for recommending content is provided); • Banning misleading prac- tices, targeted advertising that targets children and ads based on sensitive da- ta, and misleading prac- tices aimed at manipulat- ing users' choices. Stricter obligations will be imposed on large online plat- forms and search engines (with 45 million or more monthly users), and the European Com- mission will ensure enforce- ment of such obligations. Such stricter obligations will include preventing systemic risks (such as the dissemination of illegal content, adverse effects on fun- damental rights, on electoral processes and on gender-based violence or mental health); be- ing subject to independent au- dits; providing users with the choice to not receive recom- mendations based on profiling; and providing authorities and vetted researchers with access to their data and algorithms. DSA Timeline Once formally adopted by the European Council in Septem- ber 2022, the DSA will be pub- lished in the EU Official Jour- nal, enter into force 20 days later. The DSA will be directly ap- plicable across the EU and will apply fifteen months or from 1 January 2024 (whichever comes later) after the entry into force. Large online platforms will have to comply with their obli- gations four months after they have been designated as such by the European Commission. EU lawmakers ban controversial biofuels from SAF mandate The incoming Digital Services Act