Meeting in Luxembourg, the EU27 Energy Ministers adopted their common negotiating positions (‘general approach’) on the revision of the European Energy Efficiency Directive (2018/2002) (EED) and the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001) (RED II), on Monday 27 June, as part of their last meeting under the French Presidency of the EU Council.
However, the discussions between the ministers showed that there are still differences of opinion, particularly on the revision of the EED Directive.
The French Presidency had to introduce last minute changes to the text by taking over German amendments in order to get enough Member States to support its general approach proposal.
EED
The European Commission’s initial proposal includes the objective of collectively ensuring a reduction in energy consumption of at least 9% by 2030 compared to the projections of the 2020 baseline scenario (projection of the situation that current EU policies, combined with market trends, are likely to lead to - see EUROPE 12762/8).
According to the Commission, this amounts to an energy efficiency target of 39% for primary energy consumption and 36% for final energy consumption (compared to 32.5% under current legislation).
To achieve this, the Union’s final and primary energy consumption should not exceed 787 Mtoe and 1023 Mtoe respectively in 2030.
For their part, Member States have decided to make the primary energy consumption target indicative. The target for final energy consumption remains binding.
In addition, Member States would have the possibility to follow a different approach to the formula proposed by the Commission for calculating their indicative national contributions to the EU target through the introduction of a 2.5% margin of deviation between their national contribution and what it would have been under the formula in question.
Poland considered this margin too low and recalled that it had proposed setting it at 5%, with the support of 11 Member States.
In order to ensure proper monitoring of these national contributions, the German amendment agreed by the EU Council specifies that they should be expressed in final energy terms for the purpose of achieving the EU’s binding final energy target.
“The Commission shall ensure that there is no difference between the sum of the national contributions of all Member States and the Union’s binding target”, the amendment, which was publicly supported by some 15 Member States at the meeting, also states.
According to the general approach, Member States would also be required to save 1.1% of annual final energy consumption from 2024, 1.3% from 2026 and 1.5% from 2028 to the end of 2030, with the possibility of carrying over a maximum of 10% of excess savings to the following period. The Commission proposed 1.5% per year between 2024 and 2030.
The text also introduces the possibility of counting energy savings from direct fossil fuel combustion technologies in the calculation of the energy savings target. However, this possibility would be limited to the industrial sector in duly justified cases, confirmed by energy audits.
Public sector
The general approach also amends the chapter on energy savings in the public sector.
While the Commission’s text foresees an obligation for Member States to ensure that the total final energy consumption of all public bodies combined is reduced by at least 1.7% each year, the EU Council’s position foresees a transitional period of four years (after the entry into force of the new rules) during which this would not be a binding but an indicative target.
If public transport or the armed forces are excluded from the target, it should be raised to 1.9%, the text also states.
Implementation would be phased in gradually, starting with the larger cities.
In addition, the EU Council agreed that Member States would be required to renovate each year at least 3% of the total floor area of buildings owned by public bodies, at whatever level, but reintroducing derogations for certain types of buildings and for social housing.
At the request of Luxembourg, the general approach introduces a new provision on the transparency of energy consumption of data centres. This would require them to publish information on their energy consumption every year from 2024. This information would then be collected in a public EU database.
RED II
Although the ministers had less difficulty in agreeing on a general approach to the RED II Directive, the compromise presented by the French Presidency was still criticised.
Some Member States have expressed their hope to revise parts of the text during the interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’) with the European Parliament, in particular the part on faster permitting for renewable energy projects.
Luxembourg, Germany and Denmark have also called for an even higher binding target for the share of renewable energy in the EU’s energy mix by 2030, as proposed by the Commission in its ‘REPowerEU’ plan (see EUROPE 12955/4).
For the time being, the general approach is to set this target at 40%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the current target (32%), but 5 percentage points lower than the Commission’s new proposal (45%).
The ministers thus maintained the level of ambition originally set by the institution (before the Russian invasion of Ukraine).
However, they decided to introduce more flexibility regarding the sectoral targets.
Transport
In the field of transport, the text allows states to choose between a binding target of reducing the greenhouse gas emission intensity of transport fuels by at least 13% by 2030 or a binding target of at least 29% of final energy consumption in the transport sector to be met by renewable energy by 2030.
In addition, they would have the possibility to set a differentiated target for maritime transport, provided that the general target (for all transport) is met.
The compromise also changes the binding targets for the use of advanced biofuels and biogas and renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) in energy supplied to the transport sector.
For advanced biofuels and biogas produced from certain feedstocks, Member States want to set the target share to at least 0.2% in 2022, 1% in 2025 (compared to 0.5% in the Commission proposal) and 4.4% in 2030 (compared to 2.2%), incorporating the addition of a double count for these fuels.
The target for RFNBOs - i.e. mainly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels - would become indicative and remain at 2.6%, which corresponds to 5.2% with the addition of a multiplier.
The EU Council also introduced a provision that the amount of energy supplied to maritime transport is considered not to exceed 15% of the gross final energy consumption of that Member State for the calculation of the specific transport targets. This ceiling is reduced to 5% in the case of Cyprus and Malta. This provision would end in 2031.
Heating and cooling
For the heating and cooling sector, the EU Council wants to reduce the level of ambition proposed by the Commission.
Each Member State would thus be required to increase the share of renewable energy in this sector at national level by at least 0.8% per year on average until 2026 and by 1.1% on average per year between 2026 and 2030, with the share in 2020 as a reference point.
This minimum average annual rate applicable to all Member States would be supplemented by additional indicative increases calculated specifically for each Member State.
Industry and buildings
On the industry side, the general approach requires Member States to aim for an increase in the share of renewable energy in industry of at least 1.1 percentage points as an annual average calculated for the periods 2021 to 2025 and 2026 to 2030 (non-binding target). This is a similar level to the target proposed by the Commission.
In contrast, Member States lowered the Commission’s binding target for the share of renewable energy in hydrogen used in industry by 2030 from 40% to 35%. By 2035, Member States should ensure that this share reaches 50%.
Several Member States such as Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Croatia, Poland and Bulgaria have expressed their disappointment with the targets for the use of renewable hydrogen in industry as they still consider them too ambitious. The Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, on the other hand, criticised the reduction in ambition, calling the EU Council’s change a “missed opportunity”.
For buildings, the general approach maintains the indicative target of aiming for a share of renewable energy in final energy consumption in this sector of at least 49% by 2030 at EU level.
Now that the EU Council’s position on these two dossiers of the climate package (‘Fit for 55’ package) has been defined, the trilogues will start once the European Parliament has adopted its position. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)