Energy Transition in Europe | www.energy-cities.eu

European Commission accused of acting unlawfully in two separate cases bought by environment groups

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett’s mantra sounds like a perfect fit for the European Union’s latest attempt to revamp its green buildings law, writes Frédéric Simon.

*** REGISTER NOW *** for our online panel discussion on Friday 24th March 09:30-10:45 CET, “Electricity Market Design: how can reforms accelerate the transition and help cut energy prices?” Our panellists are Catharina Sikow-Magny, Director, DG ENER; Wanda Buk, Vice-President for Regulatory Affairs, PGE; Leonardo Meeus, Director of the Florence School of Regulation; Jérôme Le Page, […]

The European Union needs to reform its electricity market as quickly as possible in order to stabilise prices for consumers and stimulate investment in renewables, EU politicians have told EURACTIV.

Citizens across Europe are concerned about their heating bills as a result of the energy price crisis, but sustainable heating and cooling do not yet receive much attention in the EU’s agenda

Sky-high energy prices have threatened to bankrupt households and businesses alike, prompting governments and the European Union to dig into their pockets and design new energy and economic policies meant to quell the crisis.

There is a lot of uncharted territory to cover. Governments have never had to replace energy supplies at such short notice and so comprehensively before. The EU has never had to build policies that skim off the huge revenue profits made by energy companies. Sacred cows like electricity market rules are suddenly on the chopping block. It is an exciting time to track these developments.

Brussels doesn’t have the votes to pass sweeping emergency powers. A group of European Union countries mainly from the south has already shot down Brussels' bid to grant itself the power to ration gas around the bloc less than 24 hours after the debut of the proposal Wednesday. 

At the last scheduled meeting of European commissioners before the summer recess on Wednesday, Brussels technocrats will attempt their most far-reaching power grab yet seen in 2022: the right to impose mandatory gas rationing on the bloc's 27 member countries.

As citizens from Portugal to Poland swelter and perish in record-breaking heat, their governments are being asked to sign over their right to energy sovereignty in six days. The measures are being rushed through using emergency protocols, which mean no country will be able to veto the plan and the European Parliament will have no say.

The Social Climate Fund represents a milestone towards a more systematic integration of a social dimension into EU climate policies.

A group of seven EU countries led by Germany have rejected calls to incorporate nuclear-made hydrogen into the bloc’s green transport targets, reigniting a dispute with France that has held back an agreement on the bloc’s renewable energy directive.

The EU has today approved proposals to improve the energy performance of buildings.

Earlier today, a meeting of the European Parliament Industry, Research, Telecoms and Energy Committee was held today in Brussels.

The European Commission defended its proposal to source 45% of the EU’s energy from renewable sources by 2030 as EU countries look to lower ambition, EU climate chief Frans Timmermans told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

The European Commission presented its annual working plan to help agri-food producers promote their products in the EU and abroad, with a focus on sustainability, quality, animal welfare, and healthy eating habits.

Boosting the EU’s ambition on renewable energy could halve gas imports and save billions of euros.
A “small step up” in ambition for renewables would make a massive difference, according to energy think tank Ember.
Adopting a target for renewables to make up 45 per cent - instead of 40 per cent - of Europe’s energy mix by the end of the decade would save €43 billion in 2030, it calculated.
In total, €200 billion of gas costs could be avoided between 2025 and 2030. Between these dates, Germany alone would save €49.7 billion, Italy €29.9 billion and the Netherlands €20.2 billion.

Le territoire de Loire-Atlantique, qui fait partie de la région des Pays de la Loire, en France, recevra 48 millions d'euros de subventions de l'UE du Fonds pour une transition juste (FTJ) pour soutenir une transition climatique juste.

68% of the world’s population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050, according to the UN, a significant increase on the 56% who did in 2020, but the rates at and success with which cities are incorporating digital technologies into their fabrics vary substantially. 

Soaring energy prices and gas supply disruptions are mounting pressure on Europe to renovate its ageing, inefficient buildings as governments scramble to protect citizens from big bills.

Buildings are in the spotlight as the EU contemplates a long, hard winter on the back of an energy price crisis intensified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Already the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ climate package aimed to double renovation rates by 2030 and pioneer minimum energy performance standards for buildings. The REPowerEU proposals – issued in response to the Russian invasion – complement this with a solar rooftop plan and raise the EU’s overall energy efficiency goal for 2030 from 9% to 13%.