EU to vote on Tar Sands

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European Union officials are expected to vote on February 23 on a draft law that would label fuel produced from tar sands as more polluting than that from other forms of oil, according to a draft agenda seen by Reuters.
The proposal from the EU's executive to include tar sands in a ranking designed to enable fuel suppliers to identify the most carbon-intensive options has stirred up intense lobbying by Canada.

Home to the world's third-largest oil reserves, almost all of which are in the form of tar sands, also referred to as oil sands, Canada has argued the EU is unfairly discriminating against it.

Previous EU meetings have repeatedly failed to get as far as a vote, but the agenda for a fifth meeting of the fuel quality committee later this month schedules a vote on an amendment to the Fuel Quality Directive proposed by the European Commission.

EU sources close to the talks said a stalemate is likely, with no majority either way.

That would mean the debate is transferred from the level of EU technical experts to open discussion among EU ministers, and the Commission could decide to amend its proposal.