Parliament adopt new legislation to increase the use of renewable energy in line with the EU’s Green Deal and REPowerEU initiatives. The directive, already informally agreed with the Council, is intended to raise the share of renewables in the EU’s final energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030. Member States are urged to aim for 45%. The new law will also speed up the approval process for new renewable energy power plants, such as solar and wind farms, as well as the adaptation of existing ones. Extracts from the debate (11/09); extracts from the vote (14/09); and statement by Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

vote

renewable energy (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

PIEPER, Markus (EPP, DE)

fight against climate change (T)

SIMSON, Kadri (EE, EC)

European Green Deal (T)

Renewable energy directive: extracts from the debate (11/09); extracts from the vote (14/09); and statement by Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur

SOUNDBITE (English), Kadri SIMSON, European Commissioner for Energy, First, thanks to the revised renewable target of 42.5%, we will double the renewables share in our energy mix compared to today. And this is the right signal attached to the massive investment required. Second, the Agreed Directive gives us the right tools to roll out renewables across different sectors of the economy,including crucial sectors such as heating and cooling in distant transport. Third, we achieved a balanced agreement on the sustainability of bioenergy as we phase out fossil fuels. Bioenergy will have a role to play, but we agreed to utilise it in a way that minimises the impact on forests. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Kadri SIMSON, European Commissioner for Energy, Fourth, the new permitting rules will be a game changer for renewables deployment. Currently, approximately 130 gigawatts of renewable projects are waiting to receive a permit in the EU. These projects alone could represent around 20 billion cubic metres of gas savings and 36 million tonnes of coal savings.

EP President Roberat METSOLA announcing the vote, 470 in favour, 120 against, 40 abstentions. The vote is adopted.

SOUNDBITE (German), Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur, Well, we have set out to achieve the Green Deal targets by 2030. And the Renewable Energy Directive is a central part of the Green Deal. With that, we can really say that by 2030, we will achieve 42 or 45% of renewable energy at the end user. It's our improvement, which we have also made compared to the Commission proposal, which only wanted 30%. And we have now found a very technology-open approach, a very pragmatic approach, an approach that speeds up approval processes. That means we don't just say higher, faster, farther, we also say how it works.

SOUNDBITE (German), Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur, We have four points. The first point is that we have set the target for the share of renewable energy higher from 30 to 42%. The second point is that we say this is only possible if we speed up approval processes. This means exceptions to European species protection, such as bats or mice in the context of large wind farms, exceptions. The third point is that we make imports possible. An import strategy for hydrogen is very important. And the fourth point is that we set a guideline in the area of innovation for the member states. This means that 5% of the expansion capacities should exceed the state of the art. That is an innovation booster.

SOUNDBITE (German), Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE), Rapporteur, On the one hand, we have increased our expansion targets. Second, the European Parliament has enforced that hydrogen is pragmatically defined as green hydrogen. Not so complicated with simpler rules, which are then also important for importing. It is also very important that the European Parliament uses biomass as renewable energy, i.e. wood, from the forest is renewable energy, counts as renewable and is also eligible for funding. That, too, is an achievement of the European Parliament. Yes, and last but not least we are more modern than the Council. We have digital proof of origin for renewable energy digitally. And we are also much more progressive when it comes to innovation, much more modern than the Council.