Promoting renewable energies - RETS Project

Part one: European policy on promoting renewable energies
The European Union has been advocating the promotion
of renewable energies since the late 1990s. The strategic
principles formulated to this end sit within the global
framework of European energy policy.
European energy policy
Since the Lisbon Treaty was signed in 2007, the
European Union has shared responsibility for European
energy policy. This means that Member States only
decide on matters where the EU has not exercised its
competence. Moreover, the Lisbon Treaty establishes a
specific legal basis for energy policy: Article 194 TFEU.
Previously, the European Union influenced the energy
sector indirectly by means of other policies, in particular
policies relating to the single market, transport, the
environment and foreign affairs.
The objectives of EU energy policy, as defined in the
Lisbon Treaty, build on the measures the EU has been
applying in the field of energy. This policy is designed to:
ensure the functioning of the energy market;
ensure security of energy supply in the Union;
promote energy efficiency and energy saving
and the development of new and renewable
forms of energy;
promote the interconnection of energy
networks.
In its strategy “Energy 2020”, the Commission reasserts
the priorities for European energy policy in the period up
to 2020. This Communication
followed publication of the
“Europe 2020” strategy,
which defines the EU’s
objectives for 2020 and aims
to generate “smart,
sustainable and inclusive”
growth. The strategy “Energy
2020” sets five priorities:
achieving an energy-efficient Europe;
building a pan-European integrated energy
market;
empowering consumers and maximising safety
and security;
extending Europe’s leadership in energy
technology and innovation;
strengthening the external dimension of the EU
energy market.
In sum, European energy policy focuses on three
objectives: secure, competitive and sustainable
energy.
Secure energy
The European Union is 53% dependent on energy
imports. It imports 39% of the coal it consumes, 62% of
the gas and 84% of the oil 1 . The decreasing availability of
fossil resources, rising prices for these fuels and political
instability in some producer countries have prompted the
Union to consider the security of its supply.
In response to this challenge, the EU has in particular, in
the context of its foreign policy, been seeking energy
partnerships with third-party states and financing energy
infrastructure.
The promotion of renewable energies sits fully within the
objective of energy independence to the extent that
renewable energies are produced locally, resulting in less
need to import energy.
Energy infrastructure within the EU also poses a major
challenge to energy security. Much of it is quite old
(especially in some of the new Member States), provides
few cross-border interconnections, and was designed to
serve a centralised approach to production (cf. Green
Paper 2008). In order to ensure network security and the
smooth transmission of energy within the EU, the Union
has pledged to strengthen the infrastructure, in particular
through its Trans-European Networks (Articles 170 ff.
TFEU) and by defining funding priorities in the form of
Projects of Common Interest (PCI).
Competitive energy
In 1996 the EU committed to opening the electricity
and gas sectors to competition, on the basis of a “first
energy package”. This was followed in 2003 and 2009 by
a second and then third “energy package”. Liberalisation
of the energy market is designed to boost the free flow of
1 Data for 2010. Source: European Commission, EU energy and
transport in figures, Statistical pocketbook 2012, ISSN 1977-4559
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RETS Compendium – © 2012 RETS Consortium