EEB policy brief on the EU emergency regulation to accelerate renewable energy

On 19 December, EU governments formally adopted an Emergency Council Regulation to accelerate renewable energy deployment in the short and medium term. The Regulation will enter into force on 1 January 2023 and will be directly applicable for 18 months in all EU countries, supposedly to cover the time needed for the adoption and transposition of the Renewable Energy Directive, currently discussed by the co-legislators. Both legislations are meant to streamline and accelerate the permitting of renewable energy installations and infrastructure in the EU.

While the emergency regulation could relieve part of the pressure on the EU’s energy system and avoid spending millions on fossil fuel imports, some of its highly complex provisions and flexibility clauses could regrettably hamper the acceleration this act seeks. In this policy briefing, we look at these bottlenecks