The EU Council will adopt three legislative acts on energy efficiency and renewable energy on Tuesday 4 December in Brussels, following the vote in the plenary of the European Parliament on 13 November last (see EUROPE 12136).
The Czech Republic will vote against the directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, while Belgium, Hungary and Slovakia will abstain.
According to this text, renewable energies must represent 32% of the EU's energy consumption by 2030.
The Czech Republic states in a declaration that it will constructively contribute to the achievement of the overall EU target as well as the individual sectoral targets. "These contributions will be delivered in a cost-efficient manner, taking into account the geographical and climatic conditions as well as economic possibilities of the Czech Republic. In this context, it is necessary to take into account the funds already spent to support renewable energy sources”, the country says.
The Commission will assess the 32% target, keeping in mind the goal of presenting a legislative proposal by 2023 to increase it “in the event of a further significant reduction in the costs of renewable energy production, if necessary to meet the Union's international decarbonisation commitments, or if a significant reduction in energy consumption in the Union justifies this increase”.
Energy efficiency. The adopted Directive establishes a common framework of measures for the promotion of energy efficiency in the Union with a view to achieving the Union's main objectives of improving energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 and by at least 32.5% by 2030, and paves the way for further energy efficiency improvements beyond these dates.
Member States will have to achieve a cumulative energy savings target of at least equivalent to: - further annual savings, from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020, corresponding to 1.5%, by volume, of annual energy sales to end customers; - further annual savings, from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2030, corresponding to 0.8% of final energy consumption.
Belgium and the Czech Republic will vote against this directive (annual savings targets are considered too difficult to achieve), while Slovakia and Croatia will abstain.
Finally, the Council will endorse the regulation on the governance of the Union of Energy and Climate Action. No later than 31 December 2019, and no later than 1 January 2029 and every ten years thereafter, each Member State shall notify the Commission of an integrated national energy and climate plan.
The new rules will thus be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force 20 days after publication. The Governance Regulation will be directly applied in all Member States and they will have to transpose the new elements of the other two Directives into their national legislation no later than 18 months after their entry into force. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)