Think tank calls for new EU administrative bodies to accelerate energy transition

(EurActiv, 7 Mar 2019) The EU should establish two new administrative bodies to speed up energy transition, one in the Parliament and one in the Commission, influential Berlin-based think tank Agora Energiewende said on Thursday (7 March) while presenting its ten priority measures for the EU institutions.

The ten measures for the European Commission and Parliament were outlined in Agora’s study titled ‘European Energy transition 2030: The Big Picture”.

“Our proposals aim to make the national energy transition socially balanced and economically favourable. It also means that the European Union should already create markets for clean technologies that will be needed in the years after 2030, such as the use of synthetic fuels in industry and shipping and air travel,” Matthias Buck, head of European energy policy at Agora Energiewende, said in a press release.

In October 2014, the European Council agreed on a new 2030 Framework for climate and energy, including EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the 2020-2030 period. These targets are aimed to help the EU achieve a more competitive, secure and sustainable energy system and meet its long-term 2050 greenhouse gas reductions target, the European Commission explained.

The EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets are:

A 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, at least a 27% share of renewable energy consumption, an indicative target for an improvement in energy efficiency at EU level of at least 27% (compared to projections), to be reviewed by 2020 (with an EU level of 30% in mind), as well as the completion of the internal energy market by achieving the existing electricity interconnection target of 10% by 2020, with a view to reaching 15% by 2030.

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EurActiv, 7 Mar 2019: Think tank calls for new EU administrative bodies to accelerate energy transition