BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, September 17, 2008. The
Industry and Energy Committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament has
voted in favour of an amended version of the proposed Framework Directive
for Renewable Energy Sources, paving the way for it to move onto the next
stage of the ratification process.
The European Parliament will vote on the Renewable Energy Directive in a plenary session in the coming months.
Rapporteur and Green MEP Claude Turmes was responsible for shepherding the amended report through Parliament, following months of protracted wrangling between individual Member States over issues ranging from individual Member State burden sharing of renewables targets; trading mechanisms; not to mention the extent to which grid access should be provided for renewable sources.
This lead to the Turmes report, which saw 1,400 amendments being condensed into 33 compromise amendments after negotiations between the Parliament’s political groups.
Among its findings, the report supports the original 20% by 2020 goal, and asks for binding interim targets for Member States up to 2020. In addition, it also demands penalties for Member States that do not fulfil their objectives.
In a major coup for the German negotiating position, the ITRE Committee clearly voted against an EU-wide mandatory certificate trading scheme for renewable energy, fearing this could endanger national support schemes such as the German feed-in law. However the amended report does allow a certain degree of flexibility through, for example, joint renewable projects between different Member States.
Other key amendments saw ITRE vote in favour of the quick development of all necessary physical conditions to the grid, priority access and priority during dispatch for renewable energy.
The controversial area of biofuels and transportation sees the Committee holding on to the binding 10% target, but introduces a review for 2014. It also stresses that the 10% goal does not only refer to biofuels, but to all renewable energy sources in the transport sector including electricity, hydrogen and 2nd generation biofuels.
The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) says it welcomes the ITRE vote on the proposed Renewable Energy Directive.
Christian Kjaer, EWEA chief executive, says: “The Rapporteur and his colleagues from the other political groups must be commended for reaching a broad and strong agreement, not least on the need for effective infrastructure measures including priority grid access and dispatch for renewable energy technologies.
“The Parliament’s message to the Council could not have been stronger. It is imperative that the Member States take on board the European Parliament’s proposals if they are serious about negotiating a successful agreement in time for the international climate negotiations,” he adds.
EWEA also says it welcomes the decision to allow national support schemes and joint projects with other Member States. The amendments made to include mandatory, legally-binding interim targets with a direct penalty mechanism are also perceived as positive.
The European Parliament will vote on the Renewable Energy Directive in a plenary session in the coming months.
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