The seventh inter-institutional negotiations on the revision of the renewable energy directive will take place on Wednesday 29 March. The co-legislators hope to reach a political agreement, but important elements of the directive still need to be discussed, including the overall targets for the share of renewable energy in the EU’s final consumption by 2030, and bioenergy.
Meeting on 21 March to discuss the ‘transport’ part of the directive, the co-legislators had not yet managed to agree on quantified targets for the share of renewable energy sources in this specific sector (see EUROPE 13146/4).
Regarding the overall target, the Swedish Presidency of the Council is considering increasing the share of renewable energy sources to around 42-43%, in exchange for Parliament’s flexibility with regard to the EU Council’s position in other areas and, if necessary, supplementing this target with a ‘top-up’ to 45% at EU level.
This 45% target is supported by several associations and companies in the renewable energy sector (see other news). The Swedish Presidency will seek a revised negotiating mandate on Monday 27 March at the meeting of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper).
On the Parliament’s side, the directive’s rapporteur, Markus Pieper (EPP, German), insisted on the renegotiation of the sub-target for renewable energy in the industrial sector (article 22a), as well as the provisions on the Commission’s delegated act on additionality (article 27) (see EUROPE 13120/6).
“On the latter aspects, the European Parliament stresses the importance of setting more favourable criteria for the production of renewable hydrogen with electricity taken from the grid other than the ones in the Commission delegated act and seems ready to set a separate framework between industry and transport applications as well as for imports”, says the Swedish Presidency’s document in preparation for the trilogue.
On Tuesday 28 March, an objection resolution will be voted in Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee on this Commission delegated act allowing hydrogen fuels to be defined as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (‘RFNBOs’).
A parliamentary source close to the dossier said on Friday 24 March that the vote would take place on the eve of the inter-institutional negotiations on the directive. “I don’t think this vote will have a direct impact”, the source added, doubting that a positive outcome would be reached at the trilogue on 29 March. “If I take into account all the technical meetings I attended and the different negotiation sessions, my feeling is negative. But we could still have surprises if the co-legislators are flexible and feel that we need to conclude quickly”, the source considered.
To see the Swedish Presidency’s compromise proposal and provisional conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/613 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)