#CleanEnergy - The EU’s push for renewables and energy efficiency

In 2016 the European Commission presented a set of clean energy proposals aimed to help fight climate change, as well as reduce the EU's dependency on fossil fuel imports and help households generate their own green energy.

This legislative package is composed of three proposals: one on renewables, one on energy efficiency and one on a control mechanism. In June 2018, Parliament and Council negotiators reached an agreement on the final version of those rules.

Renewables

The share of energy consumed from renewable sources has doubled in the last years, from about 8.5% in 2004 to 17% in 2016. The EU is on track to reach its 20% target for 2020.

In 2014 EU countries agreed this should increase to 27% by 2030. Under the draft agreement reached by Parliament and the Council this should be at least 32%.They also agreed to boost people's right to produce, store and consume their own electricity from renewable sources without having to pay any charges or taxes.

Learn more about the share of renewable energy in EU countries.

Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency improvements could not only reduce CO2 emissions, but also the EU’s annual €350 billion energy import bill. That is why EU lawmakers agreedt to set a binding target to reduce energy consumption across the EU by 32.5% by 2030.

One important area for improvement is the heating and cooling of buildings, which accounts for 40% of all the energy consumed in the EU. About 75% of them are energy inefficient.

To address this issue, the Parliament adopted new rules on the energy efficiency of buildings in April 2018. According to the rules EU countries should prepare national long-term strategies to support the renovation of residential and non-residential buildings.   The aim is that by 2050 buildings in the EU hardly use any energy.

Discover what these new rules will change.

In addition, in 2017 Parliament simplified energy labels for home appliances, such as lamps, televisions and vacuum cleaners, to make it easier for consumer to compare their energy efficiency.

Control mechanism

MEPs and ministers also agreed the so-called governance of the energy union. It is a control mechanism to monitor countries’ progress towards the EU's energy and climate targets for 2030 and a cooperation tool to fill the gap in case a member state falls behind.

Next steps

Before the draft rules agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators can enter into force, they will still need to be formally endorsed by the Council as well as the Full Parliament. The plenary vote is expected to take place in October.

For updates, check out this overview of related articles on a regular basis.