2019 will be remembered as a pivotal election year for the European Parliament and the Commission. Green parties (Liberals, Socialists and Greens) made significant gains across Europe. Their growing presence and their influence on the agenda of other political parties will lead to more environmental regulations. Populist parties of the left and right made big gains also and they have strong protectionist views and policies.
This result will have a … Read More
No doubt, the haze currently engulfing much of South-East Asia, including Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia is horrible –both for humans and their health, and the planet and her lungs.
This year it seems the world is literally burning from California to the Amazon to Russia. On September 18, Global Forest Watch had around 9,440 fires in Brazil, around 4,800 each in both Angola and Mozambique, around 4,000 in Zambia and … Read More
Ahead of the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting/Post Ministerial Conferences in Bangkok this week, the EU’s High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini gave an interview setting out her vision for the future of the EU-ASEAN relationship.
Inevitably, VP Mogherini was asked about palm oil – the EU’s attempts to restrict palm have led to a rocky few years for the EU’s image in southeast Asia. Her responses to the question were … Read More
A new EU document commenting on Malaysia’s record on ‘human rights and democracy’ exposes the inconsistency in EU policy towards Malaysia, and specifically Malaysia’s major export commodity, palm oil.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) – the EU’s top diplomats – released a statement about the latest EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World for 2018, which includes a section on Malaysia. The EU report praises … Read More
Despite 2019 being an election year, the EU has continued to be in active in pushing regulations targeted at palm oil. The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) Delegated Act banning palm oil biofuels was finalised in May – it will take effect in 2021. The EU has also spent 2019 continuing its progress on the Action Plan on Deforestation, launching a Feedback and Public Consultation on how to proceed with … Read More
Jet stream is moving Europe far away from South East Asia
On the eve of the largest defence and maritime exhibition show in the Asia Pacific region, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, signaled to Europe’s leaders, foreign policy officials, and the defence and security establishment, that as a result of the European Commission’s black campaign against Palm Oil, Malaysia is now actively considering purchasing new fighter jets from China … Read More
STATEMENT BY DATO’ SAIFUDDIN ABDULLAH MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON EUROPEAN UNION’S DELEGATED ACT OF MARCH 13 2019 ON THE USE OF PALM OIL IN BIOFUELS
The Malaysian Government strongly opposes the Delegated Act published by the European Commission that classifies palm oil as “high risk”.
The Delegated Act drafting and feedback process are flawed from the beginning. The EU’s claim that the Delegated Act is based on calculating the … Read More
STATEMENT BY TERESA KOK, MINISTER OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES MALAYSIA, ON THE EUROPEAN UNION’S DELEGATED ACT OF MARCH 13 2019 ON THE USE OF PALM OIL IN BIOFUEL
“Entire Delegated Act process has been based on the politics of protectionism.”
I oppose entirely the decision adopted by the European Commission on Wednesday where palm oil is classified as “high risk”. Palm oil producing countries, including Malaysia, have consistently outlined the facts … Read More
Kuala Lumpur (4 March 2019) – A new research Paper, authored by experts from Copenhagen Economics, debunks the European Commission’s latest attempt to regulate the EU biofuels market. The Commission’s recently-published Delegated Act claims to determine “High and low Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC) – risks biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels” under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), but in reality, the goal is to ban Palm Oil Biofuels from the … Read More
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah confirms potential WTO challenge
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, the country’s top diplomat, chastised Europe’s discriminatory tactics to ban palm oil biofuels from the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), as part of a bigger EU wide campaign to exclude palm oil from the EU market, in an interview with Bloomberg this week.
Minister Saifuddin Abdullah warns that the Malaysian Government is preparing for a long battle against … Read More