PURPOSE: to promote the use of energy from renewable
sources (recast).
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European
Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the EU has long been worldwide leader in
the development of renewable energy. The 2030 framework for climate
and energy sets out the EU target of at least 27% for the share
of renewable energy consumed in the EU in 2030. If no new
policies are put in place, EU energy system projections indicate
that current Member States and EU policies would only lead to
approximately, 24.3% of renewable energy consumption in 2030. This
level would be well below the minimum 27% EU level binding
renewable energy target. It would prevent the Union from
collectively delivering on the commitments made in the 2015 Paris
Agreement. Accordingly, the Commission indicates that reaching the
EU level target of at least 27% calls for a change in
policies in the form of a Union level framework leading to EU,
national and regional level measures.
The European Parliament called upon the Commission to
present the renewable energy legislation and to increase even
further the ambition level to at least 30%.
This proposal is linked to the proposals the recast of
the Third
Energy Package (please refer to 2016/0379(COD),
2016/0380(COD),
and 2016/0378(COD)).
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the Commission considered it
opportune to go ahead with a recasting proposal for the Renewable
Energy Directive. In particular, it has opted for more
proportionate and less burdensome provisions for the heating and
cooling sector combined with strengthened provisions in the
governance framework to safeguard the achievement of the 2030
targets.
CONTENT : the proposed Directive identified six
key areas for action:
- creating an enabling framework for further deployment
of renewables in the electricity sector;
- mainstreaming renewables in the heating and
cooling sector;
- decarbonising and diversifying the transport
sector;
- empowering and informing consumers;
- strengthening the EU sustainability criteria for
bioenergy;
- making sure the EU level binding target is
achieved on time and in a cost effective way.
The main provisions which substantially change
Directive 2009/28/EC or add new elements are as follows:
- the proposal sets out the Union binding overall
target for 2030: Member States shall collectively ensure that
the share of energy from renewable sources in the Union's gross
final consumption of energy in 2030 is at least 27%. It
establishes the 2020 national targets as
baseline;
- it lays down the general principles that Member States
may apply when designing cost-effective support schemes;
- the provision which regulates how to calculate the
share of energy from renewable sources now includes a decreasing
maximum share of biofuels and bioliquids produced from food or feed
crops starting from 2021;
- the proposal includes a new calculation
methodology (anchored on the Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive) of minimum levels of energy
from renewable sources in new and existing buildings that are
subject to renovation;
- it establishes a permit granting process for
renewable energy projects with one designated authority
("one-stop-shop");
- it includes some modifications to the guarantees of
origin system;
- it empowers consumers by enabling them to
self-consume without undue restrictions;
- Member States will endeavour to achieve an annual
increase of 1% in the share of renewable energy in the heating and
cooling supply;
- the proposal establishes a EU-level obligation for
fuel suppliers to provide a certain share (6.8% in 2030) of
low-emission and renewable fuels, in order to stimulate
decarbonisation;
- the draft regulation strengthens the existing EU
sustainability criteria for bioenergy, by extending their scope
to cover biomass and biogas for heating and cooling and electricity
generation.