Executive Vice-President Timmermans Commissioner Simson Director-General Juul-Jorgensen
Keep the Renewable Energy Directive for renewables – “low-carbon” fuels and non-renewable energies should not be included in any provision of the Renewable Energy Directive.
Climate change is the defining challenge of this century. And renewable energy is one of the main pillars of European climate action, resulting in more than one-third of emission reductions to date. All scenarios for the EU achieving its targets under the Paris climate agreement rely on the rapid scaling up of renewable energy.
Beyond emission reductions, investment in renewables brings many benefits: better European energy security, lower fossil fuel import bills, local job creation, better public health, economic development, and the possibility of millions of Europeans to actively participate in and benefit directly from the energy transition.
The main policy tool for promoting renewable energy is the Renewable Energy Directive. It has proven successful in driving down the price of renewable energy technologies and boosting investments in renewables across Europe. However, the current intention to broaden the scope of the Directive beyond renewables is counter-productive and risks promoting the very fossil fuels that renewables should be displacing in Europe’s energy system, as defined in the European Commission’s long-term strategy.
Non-renewable and low-carbon fuels, including so-called ‘low carbon’ fossil fuels, should not be included in any provision under the Renewable Energy Directive nor should they count towards the EU’s binding 2030 renewable energy target.
This will generate significant public confusion and undermine trust in the EU’s renewable energy policy which is key to leveraging one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy. We thank you for taking the views expressed in this letter into consideration. We would welcome a meeting to discuss these issues with you in more detail.
Yours sincerely,
Members of the European Parliament: Alviina Alametsä Francois Alfonsi Rasmus Andresen Maria Arena Margrete Auken Benoit Biteau Michael Bloss Malin Björk Damian Boeselager Manuel Bompard Patrick Breyer Saskia Bricmont Klaus Buchner Reinhard Bütikofer Damien Careme Antoni Comin i Oliveres David Cormand Anna Cavazzini Ignazio Corrao Viola von Cramon-Taubadel Ciarán Cuffe Jakop G. Dalunde Rosa D’Amato Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield Karima Delli Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg Pascal Durand Bas Eickhout Eleonora Evi Cornelia Ernst Romeo Franz Daniel Freund Niels Fuglsang Alexandra Geese Sven Giegold Sandro Gozi Marketa Gregorova Claude Gruffat Diana Riba i Giner Francisco Guerreiro Henrike Hahn Heidi Hautala Martin Häusling Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana Martin Hojsik Par Holmgren Yannick Jadot Stasys Jakeliunas Ska Keller Petros Kokkalis Marcel Kolaja Alice Kuhnke Sergey Lagodinsky Philippe Lamberts Katrin Langensiepen Sara Matthieu Erik Marquardt Tilly Metz Hannah Neumann Niklas Nienass Ville Niinistö Grace O’Sullivan Jutta Paulus Piernicola Pedicini Mikulas Peksa Kira Marie Peter-Hansen Sirpa Pietikäinen Manu Pineda Sira Rego Terry Reintke Manuela Ripa Michele Rivasi Caroline Roose Bronis Rope Mounir Satouri Nico Semsrott Michal Simecka Jordi Solé Kim van Sparrentak Tineke Strik Marie Toussaint Ernest Urtasun Monika Vana Nikolaj Villumsen Thomas Waitz Sarah Wiener Salima Yenbou Tatjana Zdanoka
Associations, companies and civil society: Association of European Energy Research Centres (EUREC) Bellona Europa Bioenergy Europe Climate Action Network Europe Climate Bonds Coopernico Eco-union Enel Energy Cities Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) European Environmental Bureau (EEB) European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) European Renewable Energy Federation (EREF) European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) Global Witness Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe Iberdrola International Network on Sustainable Energy (INFORSE) Negative Emissions Platform Ocean Energy Europe Renewable Heating & Cooling Alliance Sandbag Solar Heat Europe SolarPower Europe Transport & Environment (T&E) Turboden Wind Europe
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