Review of renewables and energy efficiency directives - Commission launches first steps in process

One of the aims of the European Green Deal is to increase the EU's climate ambition so that greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by at least 50% and towards 55% in a responsible way by 2030. This was a key pledge from President von der Leyen when she was confirmed in office by the European Parliament. The European Green Deal communication has identified a series of climate, energy and environmental legislation that needs to be reviewed and if necessary revised in order to achieve such increased ambition. Both the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU and 2018/2002/EU) are among the instruments that are assessed.

As the first step in this process, the Commission has today published roadmaps for the review of both directives to inform stakeholders and citizens of what the goals of this initiative are and which policy options are being considered, and opened a seven-week period (3 August – 21 September) for public feedback on the concept. This will feed in to the Commission’s further preparatory work for these reviews.

For renewables, the roadmap is in the form of an inception impact assessment. It will assess whether the EU renewable energy target should be raised and whether other parts of the directive would need to be modified, in line with the ongoing assessment underpinning the Climate Target Plan for 2030 and other initiatives already adopted as the Biodiversity Strategy, the Energy System Integration Strategy and the Hydrogen Strategy, as well as Member State national energy and climate plans.

For energy efficiency, a combined evaluation roadmap and inception impact assessment is foreseen. The evaluation will review the adequacy of the directive in view of the existing energy efficiency targets, policies and measures set out in the national energy and climate plans, and taking into account the higher climate target and recent Commission initiatives such as the Energy System Integration Strategy. The findings of the evaluation will provide insights into the remaining economic, environmental, behavioural and organisational barriers, which will help identify additional solutions for improving the energy efficiency framework.

The roadmaps should complement the comprehensive impact assessment that is being carried on the Climate Target Plan for 2030 and the work that is being carried on the emissions trading system directive; the effort sharing regulation, the land use, land use change and forestry regulation and the CO2 emissions performance standards for cars and vans. It is foreseen to present the result of the review and possible proposals in June 2021.

Related links

• Renewable energy directive
• Energy efficiency directive