Under the chairmanship of their Estonian counterpart Kadri Simson, EU energy ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday 18 December, will attempt to reach political agreements in principle (general approaches) on four texts from the raft of clean energy measures tabled at the end of 2016: the regulation on governance of the Energy Union, the revised directive on the promotion of energy from renewable sources, the revised directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity and the revised regulation on the internal electricity market ahead of trialogue negotiations with the European Parliament and the Commission (see EUROPE 11679).
The clean energy package contains eight texts. Under the Slovak Presidency, Council of the EU agreed its positions on the revised directive on energy efficiency and revised directive on the energy performance of buildings when energy ministers met on 26 June (see EUROPE 11816). Trialogue negotiations have already begun with the European Parliament on the second text. In mid-November, under the Estonian Presidency, the Council agreed its position on the draft regulation on risk preparedness in the electricity sector (see EUROPE 11907).
Discussions are continuing in the Council on the eighth text of the clean energy package and the fourth text of the sub-package on electricity market redesign, the revised draft ACER directive. The Estonian Presidency is hoping a mandate for negotiations on ACER with Parliament will be granted on 20 December.
Governance. Monday’s discussions on governance will centre on the Estonian Presidency’s compromise text and, in particular, the introduction of benchmarks to the indicative trajectory towards the 27% target for renewables by 2030 – 22.5% by 2023 and 40% by 2025, applicable at both EU and member states’ levels. They will also consider the “gap-filler mechanism” proposed by the Presidency to ensure that any “ambition gap” or “delivery gap” on the part of member states is closed.
Renewables. Ministers will seek agreement on a number of key issues in the renewables text, such as the annual growth target for energy produced from renewable sources in the supply of heating and cooling (the Presidency compromise proposes 1%) and targets for renewables in the transport sector for 2030.
The Estonian compromise text proposes 12%, with a minimum 3% share of advanced biofuels, a 7% cap on first-generation biofuels, and multiplication coefficients of 5 times for electricity produced from renewable sources used in road transport and 2.5 times of that used for rail transport.
Electricity market. The main outstanding issue in the electricity directive to be discussed by the Council is market-based supply prices. Regulation of electricity prices and the need to protect vulnerable consumers are the most contentious topics among member states. The debate will focus on how to limit the market distortions caused by the regulated prices. The compromise on the table would allow temporary regulated prices but also puts in place market safeguards to avoid cross-subsidies and discrimination with regard to market participants. The member states would also be obliged to offer dynamic contracts and smart meters to support and empower the consumers.
Two outstanding topics will be central to the debate on the electricity market regulation: - definition of the bidding zones (including capacity allocation and measures to address congestion) and the capacity mechanisms and the design principles, including the 550 gr CO2/kWh emission limit, and arrangements for implementing the capacity mechanisms.
This week, the Estonian Presidency has been reasonably optimistic about the chances of reaching a general approach on the four texts. As far as the renewables directive is concerned, “it looks like the deal could be quite achievable”, an Estonian diplomatic source said on Monday, making clear, however, that difficult discussions were to be expected on heating-cooling and transport targets. “We are ready to work until midnight”, the source said.
In the “other business” section, the Commission, which will be represented by Vice-President with responsibility for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič and Energy and Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, will inform the Council on external relations issues, in particular the outcome of the last Energy Community Council, in Pristina on 14 December, and the last international Energy Charter conference in Ashgabat on 28 and 29 November (see EUROPE 11915).
Lastly, the incoming Bulgarian Presidency will present its work programme for the first half of 2018. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)