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The timing for EUFORES’ meeting could not be better: in the beginning of October the EU Ministers under the Slovak Presidency approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement; the European Parliament positively voted for the deal; besides, the ratification of this deal was celebrated at the UN headquarters in New York.

That means the global community has acquired the first universal climate deal which now binds all countries.

Conclusions from the success

Some people attribute the mentioned deal’s success to the power of multilateralism in the 21^st century and the EU’s ability to negotiate highly complex agreements through international organisations; others to the proliferation of social actors who kept this topic high on the agenda, or to the decisive role of the EU in steering, encouraging, and promoting the climate agreement. However, the deal would not be possible without the support of EU-28 national parliaments, which pushed for an ambitious agreement, which happened because the elected decision-makers, notably from EUFORES’ members supported the deal.

This is particularly remarkable, argued Commission Vice-President that until recently, the transition to clean and renewable energy was perceived as a marginal field, one which disrupts economic activity and therefore the idea did not find many supporters.

Up to now, the societies measure their might by the ability to produce and consume, showing little care for what they leave behind. For so many years, it seemed as luxury rather than a necessity to discuss the quality of air, water, or natural resources in the public discourse; there always seemed to be more important issues, he added.

Transition to a green economy

Presently, the transition to a green economy has been omnipresent in European diplomacy which led to the Paris Agreement; the idea is high in the popular culture, in evolving industries, led by new innovative technologies. What started as a pioneer grassroots movement has successfully won the hearts and minds of millions across the world. 

Companies, societies, and countries are now competing over titles like sustainable, green, or circular economies. They recognise not only the imminent danger of inaction but also the huge economic gains of investing in the emerging green industries; they encourage new sustainable business models and see that energy transition makes a very strong business case.

The EU wishes to be a global leader in renewables: solar power capacity in Europe, for example, is already 4 times bigger than in the US; it's almost half of the world's total. The wind power industry is growing fast, and already employs some 300,000 people in EU, and storage solutions are advancing steadily. Therefore, the energy transition is no longer a vision or a dream: it is a tangible reality for most of the EU states.

Leadership & responsibility

The EU leadership is taking great responsibility: it is time for all states to ensure their leading position in the global energy transition in the right direction.

It shall be done, said Commission Vice-President by ensuring that the EU states’ policies are future-proof, that the green industries are well-positioned, and that technologies and solutions are well-deployed. Besides, the EU citizens can harvest the fruits of this energy transition: from better services of digitised and electrified transport, through high quality jobs.

In fact, in 2014, around 9 million jobs were already linked to the transition to a low carbon economy. A Commission study concluded that by 2030, this number could double to about 18 million jobs.

Global & European energy connections

Energy Union matters much for Europe's external relations; it is known that the EU is heavily dependent on external sources of fossil energy, despite significant progress made in renewable energy and energy efficiency: coal, gas and oil together account for almost ¾ of EU primary energy consumption (73%).

Almost all of these resources the EU imports: oil -87%; about 65% of natural gas and close to half (44%) of the solid fuels. The EU “scenarios of the future” shows that it will be producing less of these fossil fuels so that in the coming years the EU will import even a greater percentage.

The European market is therefore extremely sensitive to the global market: in prices and in stability.

Policy changes

This reality therefore implies several policies which the Commission puts in place. For example:

1.      The EU must diversify the sources of imported energy. The Southern Gas Corridor is an excellent example to a new source of energy which will bring gas from the Caspian Sea into Europe as of 2019. LNG also has a great promise as a new source of delivery.

2.      A well-functioning internal energy market can compensate for vulnerability on the global energy market. This is true for negotiating better prices but also for relying more on each other to offset fluctuations in supply and demand. And this also implies great deal of work on connecting the EU-28 national infrastructures and harmonising legislations.

3.      Energy efficiency offers tremendous potential for reducing EU’s dependency on foreign resources, reducing energy spending, and reducing EU greenhouse gas emissions.

4.      Finally, renewables: the EU is not rich in gas but it is rich in renewables. Hence the need to advance states’ ability to capture, store, transmit and distribute renewable energy. 

When it comes to such innovative green technologies, the EU states instead of being importers could actually export experience, expertise, and know-how. The EU shall support efforts of developing countries to connect parts of their populations who are energy-deprived, helping others make the transition. So, it's a triple win for industry, for foreign relations, and for the environment.  

Further initiatives: energy efficiency

This year has been the Year of Delivery for the Energy Union; by the end of this year the Commission will present a vast majority of initiatives. For example:

- In February 2016, the Commission presented the Security of Supply package. Once adopted, it will make a real difference for energy consumers, notably those in the most vulnerable states.

- In July 2016, the EU adopted two proposals and a strategy to achieve the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change:

• the Effort Sharing Regulation setting the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for Member States for 2030;
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• a proposal on addressing emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (what the experts call LULUCF);
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• a strategy on low-emission mobility setting the course of action for low and zero-emission vehicles and alternative low-emissions fuels.

In the last 2016 State of the Union speech, President Juncker announced the expansion of the European Investment Project. This is excellent news for the Energy Union, given that most of the projects so far are related to energy, transport, and environmental protection. This expansion is both in terms of the amount which will be dedicated (now aiming at half a trillion euros) but also in geographic terms; now opening for investment in the rest of the world.

The next steps will focus on energy efficiency, including the revision and update of the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive with the aim of updating the existing energy efficiency policy and legal framework to reflect the new energy efficiency target for 2030.

Renewable energy, market design and governance

There are also other measures on EU Energy Union issues:

- The Market Design Initiative aims to provide a European dimension to security of supply; give clear price signals facilitating the continuing penetration of renewables and investment; and promote regional cooperation on energy policies and support schemes to renewables.

- The Renewable Energy Directive and the Governance mechanism would therefore establish a robust legal framework for achieving the EU-2030 renewable target in a cost-effective way.

This revision aims to: further promote market integration of renewable energy across the system; empower consumers to generate, self-consume and store renewable electricity in a cost effective way; and cut administrative red-tape. This includes streamlining permitting processes particularly for small scale projects.

-  Finally, the legislation on Energy Union Governance will stipulate the essential requirements from EU states to ensure clarity, coherence, and proper implementation.

Thus, 2016 has been and will continue to be a very busy one for the Energy Union: it will be concluded with the second edition of the State of the Energy Union, with the progress made since 2015, including country specific observations and priorities for next year.

While most of these initiatives focus on the internal dimension of EU energy policy, they are directly linked to the external one – due to the interplay between internal energy production, demand and dependency of energy imports.

Another impact on EU external dimension is a close partnership with eastern neighbours on energy issues: many of the EU standards and regulations are often picked up by other countries both in Europe and other parts of the world.

Australia and New Zealand are looking into following EU energy efficiency regulation; the US is looking into EU compressors standards, Korean authorities would like to use EU legislation on tyre noise to say nothing about emissions allowances markets which are inspired or closely linked to ETS. So even before a trans-Atlantic free trade agreement is signed with the US or with Canada, EU legislation is already setting global standards across many fields.

Critical role of national parliaments

Turning from proposals to binding legislation, Commission Vice-President said that many of EU’s proposals would be in the form of Directives, which will have to be transposed by national parliaments. He expressed awareness that national legislatures would ensure that the national legislation - as well as the debates that lead to them – would be coherent with the EU law. Adapting the EU directives to the national context and preferences will be critical for ensuring they enjoy public support.

The EU new Energy Union Governance will encourage an active role of national parliaments also in the strategic discussions around the national energy and climate plans. Aiming at cross-party and wide public support will be essential to ensure stability of these plans and to improve their political legitimacy.

Source: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-16-3342_en.htm?locale=en