The Commission's proposal to include tar sands in a ranking of fuels, which will take account of its higher greenhouse gas value than conventional crude, has been welcomed by the Liberal and Democrat Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament

Chris Davies MEP (Liberal Democrat, UK), ALDE's coordinator on the European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI), said:

"This is an important victory for Connie Hedegaard as the EU's climate change commissioner. Oil extracted from tar sands has a much higher greenhouse gas intensity than conventional crude and it would have been shambolic not to take this into account in the fuel quality directive.

"The Commission has proven that it is willing to face up to inconvenient truths that might have implications for the EU's trade relations with Canada. It is now up to all Member States to stand firmly behind the Commission and back the proposals to set minimum environmental standards for all kinds of fossil fuels."