The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent a document to the Member States on Thursday 1 December that would increase the EU’s target for the share of renewable energy in energy consumption to 40% by 2030.
Obtained by EUROPE, the document in question is a new draft Presidency compromise on the European Commission’s proposal to amend parts of the Renewable Energy (RED - 2018/2001), Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD - 2010/31) and Energy Efficiency (2012/27) Directives, as part of the plan to move the EU away from dependence on Russian fossil fuels (‘REPowerEU’).
As suggested in an earlier version of the draft compromise (see EUROPE 13043/8), Prague suggests keeping the 40% target agreed by Member States on 27 June (see EUROPE 12980/2), which is eight percentage points higher than the current target (32%) but five percentage points lower than the proposal introduced in ‘REPowerEU’ (45%).
This position is likely to complicate the interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues) on the revision of the RED Directive, with the European Parliament supporting the 45% target advocated by the Commission.
It is also to be expected that the most ambitious Member States on renewable energy will criticise the draft compromise. In June, Luxembourg, Germany and Denmark in particular argued for raising the current target to 45%.
See the draft compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/4g0 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)