Agenda
Challenges
The EU has very limited domestic oil reserves, approximately of 0,6% of the world’s proven oil reserves and only 2% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves. The EU is a net importer of energy and its energy dependency ratio accounts to 53,8% in terms of gross domestic consumption. Russia and Norway have been the main suppliers of crude oil and natural gas for the EU till 2008. It is expected that the percentage of energy imports will be growing in the future.
Europe's Energy Portal
Europa
Political
European political agenda has been moved up by climate change since early 1990s. Since then the EU started to play a global leadership role for the fight against global warming. The EU has implemented a variety of policies to combat climate change and it meets Kyoto target of 8% CO2 reductions by 2012. In 2007 the EU implemented new climate targets for 2020. According to this ‘energy and climate package’, the EU will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 1990 levels, source 20% of energy consumption from renewable energy and reduce energy consumption by 20%.
Status
Growth
Up to now, the EU’s dependence on energy imports accounts for more than a half of its energy needs. However, according to the European Commission, the EU will be importing more than two-thirds of its total energy requirements by 2030.
The growing consumption and imports of energy in the EU are followed by the skyrocketing importance of the most dominant fuel – oil, accounting for almost 40% of total the EU energy consumption, and the significantly increasing impact of natural gas within the energy’s sources (almost a quarter in total share).
Since more than 50% of the EU's energy comes from countries outside the Union and the percentage is growing, the repeatedly disrupted supplies in recent years from Russia force the EU to monitor its oil and gas supplies more closely and to be prepared in the event of an energy emergency.
Europa
As a result, in 2008 the Commission proposed a new directive on renewable energy in order to enhance the EU’s energy security and competitiveness. The 20% share of renewable energy by 2020 is expected to boost economy and secure energy supplies for the Union member states.
Growth
A new EU directive on renewable energies, agreed in December 2008, requires each member state to increase its share of renewable energies – such as solar, wind or hydro – in the bloc's energy mix to raise the overall share from 8.5% today to 20% by 2020. A 10% share of 'green fuels' in transport is also included within the overall EU target.
To achieve the objective, every nation in the 27-member bloc is required to increase its share of renewables by 5.5% from 2005 levels, with the remaining increase calculated on the basis of per capita gross domestic product.
Institutional Structure
European Commission
The Commission has the sole right of initiative for legislation relating to renewable energy. The Directorate Generals for Energy, Mobility and Transport, the Environment and also Climate Action are involved in this policy area.
The Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA)
Given the necessity to keep global average temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, DG CLIMA develops and implements cost effective international and domestic climate change policies and strategies in order for the EU to meet its targets for 2020 and beyond, especially with regard to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
Its policies also aim at protecting the ozone layer and at ensuring that the climate dimension is appropriately present in all Community policies and that adaptation measures will reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
DG CLIMA
The Directorate-General for Energy
Through the development and implementation of innovative policies, the Directorate-General aims at:
a. Fostering sustainable energy production, energy transport and consumption,
b. Providing European citizens and businesses with competitive and technologically advanced energy services,
c. Creating the necessary framework for continuous and secure energy supply for the benefit of consumers and businesses in the European Union at affordable and competitive prices, including through international relations.
In developing a European energy policy, the Directorate-General aims to support the Europe 2020 programme which, for energy, is captured in the Energy 2020 strategy.
DG for Energy
The Directorate-General for Environment
The Directorate-General for the Environment is one of the more than 40 Directorates-General and services that make up the European Commission. Commonly referred to as DG Environment, the objective of the Directorate-General is to protect, preserve and improve the environment for present and future generations.
To achieve this it proposes policies that ensure a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and that preserve the quality of life of EU citizens.
DG for Environment
European Parliament:
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Security
In most of the policy areas dealing with renewable energy (Transport, Energy as such, environment), the European parliament plays an important role in adopting legislation on an equal footing with the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure.
The two Parliamentary Committees working with renewable energy are the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Security.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Security
Budget
Current
On 15 December 2010 the European Parliament voted the EU budget 2011 – the first EU budget under the Lisbon Treaty.
With issues such as energy, the environment, climate, trade, growth and financial stability best tackled at European than national levels, this budget is essential to start the year with the required tools. It will allow continuing to invest in the EU's future through growth and employment enhancing measures.
In 2011 the EU will spend 45,5% and 56,4 of its budget for sustainable growth and preservation and management of natural resources respectively. The budget 2011 foresees €126.5 billion in payments.
History
Since the energy crises of the 1970s, several industrial nations have launched programmes to develop renewable energy solutions, but the return of low oil prices prevented renewable energies from picking up on a large commercial scale.
The European Commission published a White Paper in 1997 setting out a Community strategy for achieving a 12% share of renewables in the EU's energy mix. The decision was motivated by concerns about security of supply and environmental protection.
The 12% target was adopted in a 2001 directive on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources, which also included a 22.1% target for electricity for the EU-15. The legislation was an important part of the EU's measures to deliver on commitments made under the Kyoto Protocol.
Nevertheless, the targets were not binding and it became evident that they would not be met.
Key Policies
Recent Legislation
The economic context has dramatically changed since the 2007 Baseline scenario. In autumn 2008 the EU and the global economy entered the steepest downturn on record since the 1930s. The energy intensive industries experienced considerable drops in their production, while energy and electricity demand displayed negative rates of change in 2009.
The economic analysts, including official bodies such as the IMF, OECD and European Commission (DG ECFIN), published gloomy forecasts about economic activity and growth. Their medium term and sometimes long term economic outlooks have been drastically revised compared to 2007, in order to reflect significantly lower economic growth.
Europe's Energy Portal
In January 2007, the Commission published a Renewable Energy Roadmap outlining a long-term strategy. It called for a mandatory target of a 20% share of renewable energies in the EU's energy mix by 2020. The target was endorsed by EU leaders in March 2007.
A new EU directive on renewable energies, agreed in December 2008, requires each member state to increase its share of renewable energies – such as solar, wind or hydro – in the bloc's energy mix to raise the overall share from 8.5% today to 20% by 2020. A 10% share of 'green fuels' in transport is also included within the overall EU target.
To achieve the objective, every nation in the 27-member bloc is required to increase its share of renewables by 5.5% from 2005 levels, with the remaining increase calculated on the basis of per capita gross domestic product.
Miscellaneous
Further Information
European leaders signed up to a binding EU-wide target to source 20% of their energy needs from renewables, including biomass, hydro, wind and solar power, by 2020. To meet this objective, they also agreed on a new directive to promote renewable energies, which set individual targets for each member state. In January 2007, the Commission published a Renewable Energy Roadmap outlining a long-term strategy. It called for a mandatory target of a 20% share of renewable energies in the EU's energy mix by 2020. The target was endorsed by EU leaders in March 2007.
To achieve this objective, the EU adopted a new Renewables Directive in April 2009, which set individual targets for each member state. The 'Europe 2020' strategy, presented by the Commission in March 2010, incorporated the 2020 climate goals in its flagship initiative to promote a resource-efficient Europe.
Transition to Globalisation
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Globalisation > Economy > Energy > Sources > Renewable > Hydroelectric Energy
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Globalisation > Economy > Energy > Sources > Renewable
Transition to Political Tools
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Political Tools > Global > UN > Policies > Environment > Climate
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Political Tools > Regional > Transregional > OECD > Domestic Policies
Transition to Political Actors
Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Electrification - The Role of the Private Sector
This paper discusses the potential of renewable energy technology in rural areas and how the private sector could participate the elecrification of rural areas with renewable energy technology. ARE is the Alliance for Rural Electrification.
Political Actors > Civil society > NGOs
How Western Environmental Policies Are Stunting Economic Growth ...
Governments and large agribusinesses are increasingly using the environmentalist movement and its policy arm of green nongovernmental organizations to justify imposing protectionist non-tariff barriers on developing countries. Wrong-headed environmental policies and “green” protectionism are contributing to ... [stunted economic growth] in developing countries.
Political Actors > Civil Society > NGOs > Environment
