The European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union with unique characteristics, constituted by 28 European countries that, together, cover a large part of the European continent.
The EU was created right after World War II. The initial intention was to encourage economic cooperation, assuming that if countries had trade relations with each other they would become economically dependent on each other, thus reducing the risk of conflicts.
This economic cooperation resulted in the creation of the European Economic Community (CEE) in 1958, then made up of six countries: Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands. Since then, noted the creation of a huge, ever-evolving single market.
With well-defined post-war legislations, and by following world tensions, the need for standardization and improvement in the performance and results of certain sectors was born.. Based on these standards, agencies and governments create specific standards according to needs and trends, in order to obtain the best products and services.
The formation of the directive
The directive is a legislative act of the European Union that requires Member States to achieve a certain result..
This requirement brings access to the use of energy from renewable sources, establishing criteria and action plans for a range of technologies.
Your goal is to achieve 20% on the participation of renewable sources in the final gross energy consumption of the European community and 10% share of energy from renewable sources used for transport in each member country.
The directive also brings gradual parameters for reducing emissions up to 2017, besides that biofuels must not come from raw material produced in a region of high biodiversity value and follow the work guidelines according to the ILO.
Some countries have taken their own energy matrix transfer measures, as in the case of Sweden and France, for example.
Both, in the middle of the years 70, adopted long-term goals to reduce the use of oil and its derivatives as the main source of energy.
For each type of product there are certain criteria to be followed., which are defined by each certification standard., although, all based on the European directive.
The main certification seals are BONSUCRO, RSB, ISCC, RSPO e FSC.