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Key French MEP pitches low-carbon ‘weighting’ for EU renewables target

(EurActiv, 27 Jan 2023) France could back an EU-wide target of 45% for renewable energies if the objectives assigned to each member state are weighted according to the carbon intensity of their electricity mix, according to Pascal Canfin, the chairman of the European Parliament’s environment committee.

European Union legislators are currently debating a revision of the bloc’s renewable energy directive, with a Union-wide target of 40-45% under consideration for 2030.

The European Commission and the European Parliament are both in favour of a 45% objective for renewables in the bloc’s energy mix by 2030.

EU countries, on the other hand, have agreed to a 40% target in December, ahead of crucial talks with the European Parliament in the coming weeks to finalise the law.

France is among the countries siding with 40% objective. However, Paris has kept its position vague and has repeatedly appeared unclear with regard to where it stands at the EU level.

Ahead of a meeting of the EU’s energy council in mid-December, energy transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher declared that France was “obviously in favour of the development of renewable energies”, without specifying a target.

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EurActiv, 27 Jan 2023: Key French MEP pitches low-carbon ‘weighting’ for EU renewables target