The energy ministers of the EU Member States almost unanimously stressed the need to ensure more flexibility in the revision of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001) (‘RED II’) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2018/2002 - ‘EED’) on Thursday 2 December at a meeting in Brussels.
According to the ministers, the two revision proposals put forward by the European Commission as part of its climate legislation package (‘Fit for 55 package’ - see EUROPE 12762/8) are too detailed and do not take sufficient account of the national specificities of the Member States.
“We should keep sufficient flexibility for Member States to determine the most effective mix of national policy measures”, said, for example, the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Stef Blok.
This position was expressed by all ministers, with the exception of Luxembourg’s Claude Turmes, who expressed his incomprehension at his colleagues’ demands for more flexibility.
“As a national minister I am so glad to have detailed rules”, he added.
Several Member States, such as Denmark, Austria, Finland, Latvia and Spain, have also complained about a lack of flexibility in the proposed text regarding the renovation of public buildings.
Austria and Spain stressed in particular the importance of taking into account the presence of historic buildings.
Overly restrictive and ambitious targets
In addition, many Member States have criticised the proposal to set binding targets for the use of renewable energy by 2030 in transport, heating and cooling, and industry.
“Setting numerous ambitious subtargets might hamper the meeting of emission reduction target because it would not allow us to use the most advantageous and efficient measures”, said Latvian State Secretary for the Economy Edmunds Valantis.
While the Commission wants to set an EU-wide “indicative target” of 49% of energy from renewable sources in buildings by 2030, Hungary and Greece have deemed this target too high.
Like Greece and Belgium, several countries have expressed concerns about the realism of the Commission’s target for annual final energy savings. Currently set at 0.8% per year, the Commission proposes to raise it to 1.5% per year between 2024 and 2030.
Excessive administrative burden
Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Sweden have also expressed concerns that the proposed revision will lead to an excessive administrative burden, especially in relation to the monitoring of building renovations.
Commission’s response
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said that the EED “already provides significant flexibility for Member States”. This flexibility includes the choice and prioritisation of concrete measures and economic sectors, as well as the calculation of the national contribution to the EU energy efficiency target, she added.
In response to concerns about administrative burden, the Commissioner stressed that “the reporting and monitoring requirements (...) are aligned with already existing governance framework”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)