Strengthening the European Union Climate and Energy Package

Rapport de synthèse sur le passage de 20 à 30 % de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) en Europe d'ici 2020.

Présentation [en anglais]

Since June 2010, IDDRI has coordinated a pan-European project convened by Climate Strategies on the EU 2020 target and the revision of the EU Climate and Energy Package.

Should the EU strengthen its Climate and Energy Package (CEP) if there is no guarantee that other major countries will follow or adopt a parallel strengthening? If yes – then how and when, given that the EU is still recovering from the worst economic crisis in a generation? These questions are at the heart of current European hesitations on energy and climate and deserve a careful response.

The EU’s climate and energy goals aspire to three main objectives:

  (1) To protect the climate, including a long term goal of reducing emissions by at least 80% by 2050;

  (2) To protect EU economic competitiveness in a world of ever-growing competition, in particular competition from emerging economies, many of which do not have the same level of ambition on climate policy;

  (3) To protect EU energy security in a world where oil, gas and coal markets have all proved volatile, where ‘easy oil’ is depleting, and the real mid-term cost, availability and stability of gas supplies (including shale gas) remains uncertain.

Achieving these three goals simultaneously is not an easy task, but it is feasible. An increase of the short-term emissions reduction target is necessary but not sufficient. A stronger EU CEP is needed to send a mid-term signal consistent with the long-term goals, to focus on the right elements, and it must be backed by appropriate structural and sectoral policies. Against this backdrop, we consider the three elements in relation to current EU policies and then offer specific policy recommendations.

This synthesis report builds upon the inputs from all the contributors to the project:

* The Center for International Research on Environment and Development (CIRED), on the time consistency of the EU emissions reduction pathway, and the competitiveness and leakage impact of moving to 30% by 2020
* E3G, on the global race towards low carbon technology competitiveness
* ECN, on the low carbon technology innovation and diffusion implications of moving to 30%
* ECOFYS, on the consistency of the EU emission reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency target, and on the energy security impacts of moving to 30%
* The International Consulting on Energy (ICE), on the employment impact of climate policies
* IDDRI, on the investment dynamics in the electricity sector
* The Finish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), on the energy security impacts of moving to 30% for Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia, and on the use of the EU budget to support the transition towards a low carbon economy in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

Comments should be addressed to:
emmanuel.guerin@iddri.org ou thomas.spencer@iddri.org