Positions Adopted on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Directives
An overview of the Council’s positions and a comparison with GEODE’s amendments is available here. The key aspects for DSOs of the Council positions are summarized below:
RED: The Council agreed to set a binding EU-level target of 40% of energy from renewable sources by 2030 and included accelerated permitting procedures for renewable energy projects in line with REPowerEU plan. The Council general approach also includes amendments on the controversial Article 20a (Facilitating system integration of renewable electricity). In this context, the Council softens the obligation on GHG reporting for DSOs, who are required to do so only “when appropriate”. The Council’s text is available here.
– EED: the Council agreed to reducing energy consumption at EU level by 36% for final energy consumption and 39% for primary energy consumption. Regarding the provisions on DSOs included in the Commission’s proposal in Article 25 (Energy transformation, transmission and distribution), the Council’s text confirms the obligation for network operators to apply the energy efficiency first principle. The Council’s text is available here.
Once the Parliament will adopt its positions on the files (votes in ITRE committee are scheduled for 13 July and in September in plenary), the two institutions will start trilogue negotiations to agree on the final version of the text.
This step is expected in Autumn.
