Author: Pierre Bois d’Enghien

China, Russia Deal With MY on Palm Malaysia and China are renegotiating an agreement on the country’s East Coast Rail Link (ECRL). The resumed negotiation process will be indirectly tied to an agreement by China to purchase more palm oil from Malaysia. China is Malaysia’s third-largest market for palm oil after India and the European […]

RED gets even hotter Just when we thought it wasn’t possible for the RED issue to gain more traction, it has done precisely that. The Indonesian actions against imports of alcohol have caused major ructions in Brussels (more details on the measures themselves below). But, sources are telling us the following. First, President Juncker is […]

Malaysia, Indonesia respond to the palm oil ban Both Malaysia and Indonesia have responded aggressively to the final version of the RED Delegated Act. This response isn’t surprising given that palm oil is ASEAN’s largest agricultural export, and Indonesia’s largest export across the board. The latest intel circulating in KL and Jakarta is that: PM […]

Analysing the Final Delegated Act: the Commission Doubles Down The European Commission has published its final version of the Delegated Act for the Renewable Energy Directive, as was expected. The text will now go to the Council of the EU and to the European Parliament. They have two months to consider the Act and how […]

A Big Week in Brussels Last week was particularly busy for anyone dealing with the politics of palm oil in Brussels. Here’s an overview. The RED Delegated Act consultation closed The open consultation process for the RED Delegated Act closed. At last count, there were more than 60,000 submissions made in the process. Around 52,000 […]

EXCLUSIVE: PM Mahathir’s letter on eve of Norway visit Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, together with EU officials, will be in Kuala Lumpur this week for a series of meetings with their Malaysian counterparts to discuss their countries’ recent measures to ban palm oil from its renewables programs. POM has obtained an exclusive copy […]

The EU’s draft Delegated Act for the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) was released last week after a flurry of activity in Brussels. The draft was released at the end of a week in which EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was drawn into the impasse between the EU’s Commissioners and directorates, following an intense discussion during […]

Last week, Euractiv published an opinion piece by agronomist and environmental expert, and Palm Oil Monitor co-author Pierre Bois d’Enghien. Following France’s decision to ban palm oil biofuels earlier this year, and the ongoing debate in the EU about whether or not to label palm oil as “High Risk” or “Risky”, Governments from Indonesia, Malaysia […]

RED: A week on the edge The situation on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in Brussels last week reached something of a fever pitch. As noted in last week’s edition, there is significant tension within Brussels as to how to deal with the Delegated Act – the implementing regulation for the RED. The tension is […]

What is Happening to the EU-ASEAN Relationship?  The discontent between palm oil producers and the EU – which has been bubbling now for several years – has now broken into the open, with ASEAN allies lining up alongside Malaysia and Indonesia. Several events and news reports from recent days support the theory that recent EU […]