EU Policy

2007. Renewable Energy Roadmap

The European Commission proposed on 10^th  January a comprehensive package of measures to establish a new Energy Policy for Europe to combat climate change and boost the EU's energy security and competitiveness. The package of proposals set a series of ambitious targets on greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy and aim to create a true internal market for energy and strengthen effective regulation. 

More info  http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/index_en.htm

2006- European Greenpaper:A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy

The European Commission published on 8 March 2006 a Green Paper on developing a common, coherent European Energy Policy. If the EU can take a common approach on energy, and articulate it with a common voice, Europe can lead the global energy debate. The Green Paper will help the European Union lay the foundations for secure, competitive and sustainable energy.

more info clicking here

 2001 - Renewable Energy Directive (RES-e)

In 2001 a Directive on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources was passed. It sets national indicative targets that should be consistent with meeting 22.1% of total Community electricity consumption with renewable energy sources by 2010. In the Annex the European targets are transformed into targets for the Member States.

The purpose of the Directive is to promote the increase in the contribution of renewable energy sources to electricity production in the internal market for electricity and to create a basis for a future Community.

2000 - Water Framework Directive (WFD)

SHP is in many European countries the backbone of renewable energy. A non consistent implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) with the Targets of the RES-e Directive will in fact cause a remarkable reduction of SHP production combined with higher costs. The targets of the RES-electricity Directive can never be reached in matters of SHP if there is no harmonisation between absolutely different targets.

The implementation of the Water Framework Directive raises a number of shared technical challenges for the Member States, the Commission, the Candidate and EEA Countries as well as stakeholders and NGOs. In order to address the challenges in a co-operative and coordinated way, the Member States, Norway and the Commission agreed on a Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) for the Water Framework Directive only five months after the entry into force of the Directive.

• A Strategy Co-ordination Group (SCG) for the WFD Common Implementation Strategy has been set up. This work is composed by DG ENV, DG TREN, Member States and Stakeholders (ESHA, WWF, EEB, Eurelectric), the objective of this group is to deliver guidance documents on how to implement the directive. An specific working group on Hydromorphology has been set up.
• More info on the WFD implementation process and teh produded guidance documents by clicking here
• Reports of the Hydromorphology working group, here!
• Reports of the SCG Here

2000 - Green paper on Security of Supply

In its Green Paper “Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply” the European Commission warns that the EU already imports 50% of its energy requirements and if no measures are taken within the next 20 to 30 years this figure will rise to 70%.

1997- White paper on renewable energy

The European Commission issued 1997 the White Paper. The objective was to achieve a share of 12% of total EU energy consumption by 2010. This was confirmed in 2000 in the Green Paper on the security of energy supply.

In the White Paper the EU recognized that renewable energy sources are essential to tackle climate change, not only within the EU, but all over the world.

The most important point in the White Paper was to set out a strategy to double the share of renewable energies in gross domestic energy consumption in the European Union by 2010, including a timetable of actions to achieve this objective in the form of an Action Plan.