The European Commission has called on all 28 EU nations to submit draft plans in 2017 on how they intend to meet bloc-wide 2030 energy goals.
In the Commission’s first annual state of the energy union address, Vice President Maros Sefcovic said the EU executive would then assess each plan to check on progress.
The Commission published a raft of documents mapping the wide-ranging energy union project, including annexes with guidelines as to how the national energy and climate plans should be drafted and “key indicators” that would allow it to monitor how member states and the EU as a whole is progressing in implementing energy policies.
The Commission also published an analysis of each of the 28 countries’ progress to date and a revised list of Projects of Common Interest, which are entitled to planning and EU funding priorities because they benefit more than one member state.
Earlier this year, EU leaders agreed a loose framework under the term “Energy Union”, integrating bloc-wide initiatives on the internal energy market, energy security and climate policy. Environmental campaigners say the work is too focused on ensuring gas supplies and should do more to phase out fossil fuels.
FACTFILE:
- In Oct. 2014, EU leaders agreed three 2030 goals including to raise the share of renewable energy to at least 27% of consumption and to boost energy saving by 27% of BAU
- They couldn’t agree whether to extend the 2020 regime of legally binding national goals, with only the -40% emission reduction goal made binding nationally
- Member states are divided on the strictness of a governance regime to meet renewables and efficiency goals at national level
- On the CO2 goal, the EC has proposed law to extend the EU ETS, with a non-ETS proposal due in H1 2016
- If renewables and efficiency goals are not met it could prove bullish for EU carbon prices as more carbon-intensive power could be produced
By Ben Garside – ben@carbon-pulse.com
