Energy transition: EU unity’s missing jigsaw piece?

(EurActiv, 20 Apr 2018) Decarbonising Europe’s economy and meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement are among the EU’s main priorities. Depending on the level of ambition and the course the EU energy policy ship takes, the result could be either a more united or divided continent.

At the 4th annual EU Energy Summit in Brussels last week (12 April), all the movers and shakers of energy policy were in agreement on at least one point: the EU’s necessary shift to a low carbon economy has to be fair and include everybody.

But one country’s ambitious energy policy is another country’s unfair transition, as every member state has its own economic, societal and geographical factors to take into account. These factors have to be balanced with the drastic need to cut emissions and tackle climate change.

That is why figures like EU climate boss Miguel Arias Cañete and European Parliament energy committee chair Jerzy Buzek acknowledge that getting the legislation right will affect how united member states are around a successful energy transition.

In his keynote speech, Cañete warned that an increasingly “fluid and uncertain” geopolitical situation both inside and outside the EU, indirectly referring to Russia, could slow down Europe’s decarbonisation efforts.

Faced with these challenges, the Spanish Commissioner insisted that unifying Europe around an ambitious energy policy is more urgent than ever, calling on member states and the Parliament to remember that as talks on the Clean Energy Package for 2030 continue.

An informal energy summit in Sofia on Thursday (19 April) was the last attempt to try and unlock talks between member states and EU institutions ahead of a new round in May. But several national capitals are still unwilling to compromise.

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EurActiv, 20 Apr 2018: Energy transition: EU unity’s missing jigsaw piece?