State of the EU Energy Union
The European Commission adopted on 18 November the first State of the Energy Union Report which looks at progress made over the last nine months and identifies key action areas for 2016 and provides policy conclusions at Member State, regional and European level.
The Energy Union is the major project of the European Commission to coordinate the transformation of European energy supply. The new package includes national factsheets on each Member State. All the documents can be downloaded here.
As regards the development of renewables, the report states that the EU as such is on track to meet its target of 20% final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. All but three Member States (Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) met their 2013/14 interim target based on 2013 data. To ensure that the EU will reach its common 2030 target of 27% renewable energy, the new Renewable Energy Directive will establish measures and policies:
“The new Renewable Energy Directive and the bioenergy sustainability policy for 2030, to be presented in 2016, should provide the right framework to achieve the binding EU-level target of at least 27% renewable energy by 2030. It will lay out EU policies and measures that should, together with Member States’ contributions described in their national energy and climate plans, make sure that that target will be achieved. To put the right decarbonisation incentives in place, we will also push for a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies.”
A public consultation on the new Renewable Energy Directive was launched on the same day. EBA will contribute to the consultation with its members.
The European Commission released also a list of 195 key energy infrastructure projects – known as projects of common interest – which will help deliver Europe’s energy and climate objectives and form key building blocks of the EU’s Energy Union. The press release and the list can be found here.
EBA and other Brussels based renewable energy associations published a common statement on the Energy Union report emphasising the need for a robust and reliable governance system in 2020-2030. The statement can be found here.
