The Council of the EU has adopted a target to have 40% of the bloc’s energy usage produced through renewables by 2030.
The council adopted negotiating positions on two legislative proposals that address the energy aspects of the EU’s climate transition under the ‘Fit for 55’ package, which aims to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030.
The two directives the council adopted positions on today (Monday, June 27) are the renewable energy directive and the energy efficiency directive.
Today’s development paves the way for the council and European Parliament to begin negotiating on targets for renewable energy production.
Energy production currently accounts for 75% of the EU’s emissions.
The council agreed to set a binding EU-level target of 40% of energy from renewable sources in the overall energy mix by 2030. The current EU-level target is 32%.
If a target of 40% is set and agreed upon, member states will need to increase their national contributions set in their integrated national energy and climate plans (NECPs), which in any event are due to be updated in 2023 and 2024.
The council also set a binding sub-target for advanced biofuels in the share of renewable energy supplies to the transport sector at 0.2% in 2022, 1% in 2025 and 4.4% in 2030.
Advanced biofuels are produced from agricultural and forestry residues; non-food crops; or industrial waste and residue streams.
The council has decided on a gradual increase in renewable targets for heating and cooling, aiming for a binding increase of 0.8% per year at national level until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030.
This would be complemented with additional increases calculated specifically for each member state.
The council’s official position also strengthens sustainability criteria for biomass in order to reduce the risk of “unsustainable bioenergy production”, and added measures to limit fraud regarding durability of biofuels.
Furthermore, a recommendation to accelerate permitting procedures for renewable energy projects – in line with the priorities of the new RepowerEU plan proposed last month – was also adopted.
This recommendation was noted as being important for the fast-tracking of the deployment of renewable energies in the context of the EU’s plan to become independent from Russian fossil fuels.
The council and the parliament will now enter interinstitutional negotiations to agree on a final text for the two directives.