National energy and climate plans

The national energy and climate plans (NECPs) were introduced by the Regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action (EU)2018/1999, agreed as part of the Clean energy for all Europeans package which was adopted in 2019.

The national plans outline how the EU countries intend to address the 5 dimensions of the energy union:

decarbonisation
energy efficiency
energy security
internal energy market
research, innovation and competitiveness

This approach requires a coordination of purpose across all government departments and it provides a level of planning that will ease public and private investment.

The process

Under the governance regulation Member States had to submit their draft NECPs for the period 2021-2030 to the Commission by 31 December 2018. These were analysed by the Commission with an overall assessment and country-specific recommendations published in June 2019. Taking these recommendations into account, Member States were then required to submit their final NECPs by 31 December 2019.

On 17 September 2020, the Commission published a detailed EU-wide assessment of the final NECPs. As a follow-up, and as part of the 2020 energy union report, the Commission published individual assessments of each of the national plans for further guidance.

Each country must submit a progress report every 2 years, according to the structure, format, technical details and process set out in the Implementing Regulation. The Commission will, as part of the state of the energy union report, monitor the EU's progress as a whole towards achieving these targets.

To better develop and implement the plans, the Member States were required to consult citizens, businesses and regional authorities in the drafting and finalisation process.

The governance regulation also required Member States to submit by the start of 2020 national long term strategies looking forward to 2050.

Updating the NECPs 2021-2030 (in 2023)

By 30 June 2023, Member States were due to submit their draft updated NECPs in line with article 14 of the Governance Regulation. The Commission has published guidance to Member States on the process and scope of this update.

On 24 October 2023, the Commission published its technical assessment of the NECP progress reports towards meeting the EU’s energy and climate objectives. The Staff Working Document is part of the 2023 State of the energy union report.

On 18 December 2023, the Commission published its EU-wide assessment of the draft updated NECPs, together with individual assessments and country-specific recommendations for the 21 Member States that submitted their draft plans in time. In addition, there is a 2-pages factsheet highlighting the Commission’s assessment per Member State. The documents are available per country in the list below.

Five Member States submitted their draft updated NECPs at a later stage. The assessments and recommendations for those countries were published on 23 February 2024 and 26 April 2024.

Member States were due to submit their final updated NECPs, taking account of the Commission’s assessment and recommendations, by 30 June 2024.

National Energy and Climate plans 2021-2030

The list below links to the integrated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) for the period 2021-2030 as submitted by each Member State:

the draft NECP (submitted in 2018)
the final NECP (submitted in 2019)
the draft updated NECPs (in 2023)

Please note that only the original versions of the NECPs are authentic (the English versions are courtesy machine translations or, where available, translations provided by the Member State itself).

The documents listed also includes the European Commission’s individual recommendations and assessment of each NECP.

* The UK left the EU on 1 February 2020, and the transition period agreed upon in the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement finished on 31 December 2020. However, as it was subject to EU legislation during the Brexit transition, the UK submitted their NECP shortly before the end of 2020.

Documents

18 DECEMBER 2023

EU wide assessment of the draft updated National Energy and Climate Plans COM(2023) 796 final

17 SEPTEMBER 2020

EU-wide assessment of National Energy and Climate Plans COM(2020) 564 final

17 SEPTEMBER 2020

Factsheet: National Energy and Climate Plans Assessment

18 JUNE 2019

Communication assessing the 28 draft NECPs COM(2019) 285 final

18 JUNE 2019

Accompanying annex to the communication: Methodology SWD(2019) 212 final

18 JUNE 2019

Accompanying annex to the communication: Assessment of the national forestry accounting plans SWD(2019) 213 final

18 JUNE 2019

Regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action ((EU)2018/1999)

National energy and climate plans

The process

Updating the NECPs 2021-2030 (in 2023)

National Energy and Climate plans 2021-2030

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czechia

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Documents

Related links