Commission puts forward lacklustre approach to a secure and sustainable energy system

“The Commission has yet again missed the chance to take a bold step forward on energy efficiency – the backbone of any secure and sustainable energy supply system. The review of existing efficiency legislation may bring marginal improvements, but the Commission has shied away from the most obvious and simple solution – to make the EU’s 20% efficiency target binding,”(1) said Frauke Thies, Greenpeace EU renewables policy campaigner.

On the other hand, Greenpeace welcomed the announcement of proposals on electricity infrastructure, including plans for an offshore grid in the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

“A strategic development of electricity grids would create a robust energy system that can balance the input of different renewable energy sources like offshore wind across the continent,” said Thies.

Alongside measures on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the Commission proposal includes measures targeting the supply and storage of oil and gas. It also announces support for coal-related carbon capture and storage technology and new regulations for nuclear energy.

“A rigorous strategy based on renewable energy and energy efficiency is the best response to concerns of security of supply. The Commission should be discussing phasing out dirty, expensive and unreliable technologies like coal and nuclear, instead of trying to invent new ways of subsidising them with taxpayer’s money,”(2) said Thies.

"The Commission wants to bring down nuclear safety standards to the lowest common denominator, ignoring the concerns of European citizens. Once again the Commission is putting the interests of the likes of Areva and EDF first and refusing to acknowledge that nuclear energy is as risky as it ever was,"(3) added Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace EU policy campaigner on dirty energy.