Dear Minister,
During the Energy Council on 27 February in Brussels, you will present your country’s views on the ‘Clean Energy package for all Europeans’ published by the European Commission at the end of last year.
CAN Europe believes that the package is not consistent with the long-term commitments made in the Paris Agreement, which would require a more substantial overhaul of EU climate and energy policies.
As clearly evidenced in the package, such an overhaul would actually help your country and the European Union as a whole to reap the clear benefits that higher ambition brings in terms of increased jobs, further economic growth and improved competitiveness. It would also promote energy independence, reduce pollution and health costs, lower electricity prices and boost innovation. All issues which are of great value to your citizens.
We therefore call on you to support an increase in the EU 2030 energy efficiency and renewable energy targets to 40% and 45% respectively, to better reflect the potentials and to offer greater benefits to European citizens.
Furthermore, we urge you to support the extension and strengthening of the energy savings obligations, the continuation of the renewable energy support measures, the strengthening of the limitation to use capacity mechanisms, as well as the improvement of the proposed National Climate and Energy Plans by setting appropriate provisions to ensure the climate and energy targets are met and by including a long-term perspective to 2050.
Lastly, in spirit of the EU’s continued commitment to the Paris Agreement, we urge you to ensure that ‘review clauses’ are included in all the legislative files, to enable adjusting the EU’s 2030 policy framework to reach the temperature goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
We hope these thoughts are useful for your assessment of the ‘Clean Energy package for all Europeans’ and for your discussions during the upcoming Energy Council.
Yours sincerely,
Wendel Trio,
Director Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
