Kuala Lumpur (11 June 2018) – The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) released new economic research that quantifies the negative impact to major European economies should the EU move ahead with its proposed ban on Palm Oil biofuels under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
The research was carried out by the renowned Danish consultancy, Copenhagen Economics (CE). CE is a long-time consultant to the European Commission on a vast array of economic and scientific topics.
Key findings of the new report:
The following statement can be attributed to Martin H. Thelle, Managing Director and Partner at Copenhagen Economics:
“It is clear that significant jobs and exports earnings across the EU are dependent on trade with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Europe’s trade with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand accounts for €39.5 billion in exports, supporting at least 354,000 jobs in the EU. Any reduction in trade could have a significant impact on key export sectors including aircraft, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. The countries most dependent on trade with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are Germany, France, U.K., Italy and Netherlands. A reduction in trade of 2 billion EUR could impact 18,000 jobs across Europe that are dependent on this trading relationship.”
Dato’ Haji Aliasak Haji Ambia, President, National Association of Smallholders (NASH) Malaysia stated:
“Any EU ban or cap on Palm Oil biofuels is a discriminatory action against the hundreds of thousands of small farmers across Malaysia. The Governments of France and Italy promised that there would not be discriminatory treatment against Palm Oil. Those promises must be honoured. Attempts to camouflage this discrimination behind technical calculations are deceitful. Europe is now adopting Trump-like trade tactics that violate WTO rules. The EU cannot credibly claim to be a defender of global trade if this discrimination against Palm Oil is adopted.”
To read the report and learn more, visit here [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.theoilpalm.org/tradeimpacts