§ Mrs. ShephardTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's timetable is for consultation on the implementation of the EU bio-fuels directive; and what consideration has been given to ensuring that the UK's 2005 target for implementation of the directive is notified in the EU by July. [150782]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe European Union's Biofuels Directive requires member states to set their own indicative targets for sales of biofuels for road transport to be met in 2005 and 2010. The Directive must be transposed by 31 December 2004. The Government will be consulting shortly on the level of possible targets for the UK and on the steps it might take to meet them. This will allow us to report our intentions to the European Commission by July 2004.