| dc.description.abstract | In 1997 the Commission published a White Paper on renewable energy1 which announced a target to double the European Union's renewable energy share to 12% by 2010. The creation of this renewable energy policy was founded on the need to address sustainability concerns surrounding climate change and air pollution, improve the security of Europe's energy supply and develop Europe's competitiveness and industrial and technological innovation. The White Paper also announced a renewable energy strategy and action plan, highlighting the need to develop all renewable energy resources, create stable policy frameworks and improve planning regimes and electricity grid access for renewable energy. A key element of the action plan was the establishment of European legislation to provide a stable policy framework and clarify the expected development of renewable energy in each Member State. The two key pieces of legislation (Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC) set indicative 2010 targets for all Member States and required actions to improve the growth, development and access of renewable energy. In addition, a Biomass Action Plan was adopted in 20052 to focus attention on the specific need for Member States to develop Europe's biomass resources. Regular assessments and reports have been prepared on the EU's progress towards its 2010 targets and on its efforts in general to develop renewable energy. The reports issued in 2007 as well as the Renewable Energy Roadmap3, highlighted the slow progress Member States were making and the likelihood that the EU as a whole would fail to reach its 2010 target. The Roadmap explained possible reasons for this, which included the merely indicative nature of the national targets and the uncertain investment environment provided by the existing legal framework. The Commission therefore proposed a new, more rigorous framework to drive forward the development of renewable energy and more solid, legally binding targets for 2020. Following wide public consultation in 2007 and the endorsement of the European Council4 and Parliament,5 the Commission proposed new legislation covering all renewable energy and set new targets for 2020 to ensure a stable regulatory framework for the decade ahead. This new Renewable Energy Directive has now been agreed6. The purpose of this report is to provide information on progress since the 2007 reports, as required under the two current Directives (2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC), focusing on data from 2004 to 2006 or 20077. The report also sets the scene for the future by describing the state of progress in developing renewable energy today and explaining how the new framework will drive forward the growth of renewable energy, including biomass, in the immediate years ahead. |
