The Clean Energy for all Europeans Package has been a long-time coming. First proposed in November 2016, it was heavily negotiated by the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the European Commission (“Commission”).
The Clean Energy Package comprises eight different legislative proposals which by now have all been adopted (or at least agreed upon). They provide an update to the European energy policy framework, aiming at facilitating the energy transition and providing a modern European energy market. The legislation mainly covers the following aspects: (1) rules on a new electricity market design, (2) rules on the promotion and integration of energy from renewable sources, (3) rules on energy efficiency and (4) rules on the institutional framework.
Following our Client alert on the Commission’s proposals from 2016, we are now happy to brief you on the key provisions of the adopted documents. If you have further questions on particular aspects of the new legislation or their potential legal implications for your business, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be delighted to discuss any issues with you in person.
The new electricity market design is intended to better fit the future electricity markets, which will be characterised by more variable and decentralised production, an increased interdependence between cross-border systems and opportunities for consumers to participate in the market through demand response, aggregation, self-generation, smart metering and storage.
The new provisions on renewable energy are intended to facilitate the deployment of renewable energy during the energy transition until 2030 by setting EU-wide targets on renewable energy, streamlining the administrative permission process, providing stability on financial support and strengthening consumer rights.
The new rules aim at increasing energy efficiency in the EU by setting efficiency targets for the EU and Member States, introducing several EU-wide guideline mechanisms and expanding consumer rights concerning metering and billing of heating, cooling and hot water.
The new provisions consolidate existing EU governance rules and introduce the new reporting obligation for Member States concerning climate protection, in particular the submission of national energy and climate plans (“NECPs”).
