On Thursday 2 June, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union transmitted to the Member States a new draft compromise on the revision of the European directive (2018/2001) on renewable energy (RED II). The document deals exclusively with the chapter on administrative procedures for planning and permitting of renewable energy projects.
In particular, it provides for renewable energy projects to be considered to be in the interest of public health and safety and to be carried out for imperative reasons of overriding public interest in order to accelerate their deployment with a view to achieving the EU’s climate objectives.
This status allows for derogations from certain provisions of the directive (2009/147) on the conservation of wild birds and the directive (92/43) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.
“Member States shall ensure, at least for projects which are recognised as being in the public interest, that in the planning and permit-granting process, the construction and operation of energy plants from renewable sources and the related grid infrastructure is given a high priority when balancing legal interests in the individual case”, the Presidency document states.
However, Paris specifies that this sentence only applies if appropriate species conservation measures are taken and if sufficient financial resources and land are made available for this purpose.
Member States would also be required to report on the contribution of measures to remove barriers to renewable energy projects and their effect on biodiversity as part of their national energy and climate reports.
These assessments would then be examined by the European Commission, which would have the option of presenting a proposal for a revision of the measures in case of major impacts on biodiversity.
It should be noted that these new proposals from the French EU Council Presidency come after the European Commission presented, on Wednesday 18 May, a legislative proposal aimed precisely at accelerating the granting of permits to renewable energy projects by making targeted amendments to the ‘RED II’ directive (see EUROPE 12949/2).
Part of the European Commission’s wider plan to move the EU away from dependence on Russian fossil fuels (REPowerEU - see EUROPE 12955/4), the proposal includes the introduction of a new article in the directive to ensure that renewable energy installations, their connection to the grid, the grid itself, and storage assets are considered to be in the overriding public interest.
The institution also wants to establish time limits for the granting of permits to renewable energy projects in order to reduce these procedures, notably by introducing the concept of ‘renewables go-to areas’.
These would be specific locations, on land or at sea, which have been designated by a Member State as “particularly suitable for the installation of plants for the production of energy from renewable sources, other than biomass combustion plants”.
See the draft compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/1yc (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)