Търсене

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU is considering how it can rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The European Parliament has called for an embargo on Russian coal, oil and gas. The European Commission's 'RePowerEU' plan will mark out the next steps.

Russia remains Europe's largest supplier of coal, oil, and gas. This poses a particular difficulty for the EU and its Member States, which are urgently seeking to reduce their energy dependence. This is not only necessary to pressure Russia economically to end its invasion of Ukraine, but also to prevent Russia from weaponising its energy supplies and threatening Europe’s energy security in future. Replacing Russian natural gas will be much more difficult than replacing oil and coal, due to differences ...

The concept of important projects of common European interest (IPCEIs) is enshrined in Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It enables the Commission to allow Member States to design and implement national investments targeting important market failures or societal challenges that could not otherwise be addressed. In November 2021, the Commission adopted a communication updating a 2014 communication that established the first set of guidance to be used for the ...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered serious concerns about EU energy security. The problem is particularly acute in the gas sector, where Russia is the leading third-country supplier, on which several Member States are heavily dependent. To ensure the EU is prepared for the risk of an interruption of gas supplies next winter, the Commission has proposed an urgent regulation on gas storage, requiring Member States to: fill in at least 80 % of their storage capacity by 1 ...

The European Commission is currently negotiating a revision of the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). This revision would, inter alia, reform the ECT's investor–state dispute resolution mechanisms and explicitly allow countries to take regulatory actions affecting existing investments, for reasons such as environmental protection or climate action. The overarching objective is to ensure that the ECT is modernised in a way that would avoid the EU and its Member States deciding to withdraw from the ...

Ecodesign and energy labelling policies play an important role in the decarbonisation of the energy system. Ecodesign bans the least-efficient products from the market, while energy labelling guides consumers towards the most energy efficient products. While the Ecodesign Directive focused largely on energy aspects, its revision became necessary in light of the transition to a circular economy where the use of natural resources is reassessed to maximise their value and minimise their waste. The recently ...

In July 2021, the European Commission put forward the 'fit for 55' package of legislative proposals, aimed at ensuring the success of the European Green Deal. The FuelEU Maritime regulation is one of these proposals and, together with four other proposals, it seeks to steer the EU maritime sector towards decarbonisation. In the European Parliament, the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) leads the work on this file. On 4 April 2022, the rapporteur Jörgen Warborn put forward his draft report ...

Russia’s war on Ukraine has boosted the already high prices of oil and gas in the European Union, posing a question mark over sustainable deliveries of energy to the bloc. The EU is heavily dependent on Russia for its oil and gas. In 2021, two-fifths of the gas Europeans burned came from Russia. More than a quarter of the EU’s imported crude oil came from the country. The European Commission has announced plans to cut the EU’s dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds this year. Meanwhile, Russia has ...

During the April 2022 plenary session, Parliament will be voting on the text of a revised TEN-E Regulation, agreed in trilogue negotiations in late 2021. The TEN-E Regulation outlines rules for projects of common interest (PCIs) in energy infrastructure. PCIs are priority projects that either greatly benefit the single market or improve security of supply in the EU; some are eligible for EU funding. The revised TEN-E Regulation would require PCIs to meet stronger environmental sustainability criteria ...

Russia's war on Ukraine and the linked issue of energy security constituted the clear focus of the European Council meeting held on 24 25 March 2022. The meeting included a joint session with the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and it formed part of a trilogy of summit meetings in Brussels (NATO, G7 and EU) demonstrating Western unity in support of Ukraine and in response to President Vladimir Putin's unacceptable violation of international law. The main outcomes of the meeting ...