The European Environmental Agency’s (EEA) report tracks the progress of the EU and its Member States towards their climate and energy targets. Its last report, published in November 2017, analysed official data for 2015 to look at the progress towards respective climate and energy objectives for 2020, 2030 and 2050.
The 2020 climate and energy targets, endorsed by the European Council in March 2007, aim at making the EU economy highly energy efficient and low-carbon. Being one of the pillars of the EU 2020 strategy, the EU committed itself to achieve following energy and climate objectives by 2020:
The overall conclusion reached by the EEA is that the EU is well on track to meet its 2020 climate and energy targets. The data show a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions (22% reduction in 2015) and steadily growing use of renewables (16,7% of gross final energy consumption in 2015). As regards energy efficiency, the EU remains on track as well.
In order to achieve its energy and climate objectives, the EU adopted the 2020 climate & energy package.[1] Specific binding national targets on the share of energy from renewable sources are set by the Renewable Energy Directive, binding national greenhouse gas emission targets derive from the Effort Sharing Decision of the European Union. As regards energy efficiency, the EU Member states set their own non-binding targets for energy consumption under the Energy Efficiency Directive.
The EEA’s analysis of the progress towards EU Member States’ national targets revealed that:
21 Member States (all except Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta) are on track to meet their greenhouse gas emissions targets,
25 Member States (all except France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) are on track to reach their renewable energy targets,
23 Member States (all except Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands) are on track to meet their energy efficiency targets.
The 2030 climate and energy targets were endorsed by the European Council in October 2014. The European Council agreed on the following targets for 2030:
The EEA’s Report found that although the 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets are expected to be met by a sufficient margin, the policies and measures currently planned will not be sufficient to achieve the EU 2030 targets. If renewable energy use continues to grow at the same pace until 2030, the EU will exceed the 27 % target for 2030. However, the EEA pointed out that investor’s confidence has been significantly undermined by radical regulatory changes across the Europe, structure of the electricity market is outdated and grid infrastructure to accommodate a growing share of decentralised renewables is insufficient. Similarly, meeting the 2030 energy efficiency targets will require Member States to step up their efforts to keep primary energy consumption in check.
The EU has a long-term objective of reducing Europe's GHG emissions by between 80 % and 95 % by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. The EEA concluded that even if the 2030 targets were achieved, a faster pace of reductions in emissions would be required to reach the EU’s 2050 long-term decarbonisation objective. The EU has no quantified target for renewable energy and energy efficiency beyond 2030, however, the EEA’s report sends a clear message that massive deployment of renewables and further improvements in energy efficiency will be essential.
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[1] Comprising of Directive 2009/29/EC, Directive 2009/28/EC, Directive 2009/31/EC and Decision No. 406/2009/EC of the Parliament and the Council.
[2] The European Council agreed on the higher energy efficiency target in June 2017.
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