EU Governance of Renewable Energy post-2020 – risks and options

The European Union (EU) has put forward key elements of the climate and energy framework for the next decade. In order to reach its climate, security and competitiveness goals, the EU must decarbonise its energy system. The share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix should reach at least 27 % by 2030 according to the European Council decisions from October 2014. While this is far from ambitious, the agreement on a post-2020 renewables target reflects the need for continued support for renewable energy sources.
A clear and stable policy framework for renewables is crucial to create investment and investor certainty for the years to come. In the current climate and energy framework, the EU has committed itself to increasing its renewables share to 20 % by 2020. This European target was then translated into binding national targets, as embedded in the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive. Nationally binding targets were a key determinant of the growth of renewables across Europe. In contrast, under the current set of proposals for the post-2020 framework, the renewables target will only be binding at EU level and not at Member State level. It remains unclear what this means for compliance and investor certainty. The absence of binding national targets could have a detrimental effect on national renewable energy supporting policies in some EU Member States.
Policy uncertainty about future support for the deployment of renewable energy can lead to uneven growth in renewable energy generation. This puts further integration of the European energy market at risk. It also contradicts the notion of a European Energy Union, which strives for closer cooperation and coordination of Member States’ energy policies.
A crucial question is therefore: How can the post-2020 climate and energy framework, even without nationally binding targets, set the necessary conditions to further enhance the growth of renewables across the European Union?
Together with the 2030 targets, the EU also proposed the development of a new governance system. This system seeks to establish a middle ground between Member States’ freedom to determine their energy mix and the goals and legislation at EU level. So far, however, it remains largely unclear what this means and, in particular, to what extent such a governance mechanism can guarantee compliance with the EU-wide binding renewable energy target of at least 27 %.
The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union has commissioned the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) to explore the options for the post-2020 EU renewable energy policy and governance system. The report 'EU Governance of Renewable Energy post-2020 – risks and options' provides innovative ideas for the current debate on future EU energy governance and renewables policy in order to accelerate the transition to a renewables-based energy system in Europe.