On Wednesday, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson had her spokesperson clarify a statement made by the Energy Council the previous day, which could be interpreted as a move away from a separate EU target for renewable energies in 2040. On Tuesday, the nuclear alliance led by France circulated a non-paper advocating an EU target for decarbonized […]
The German government will be the first EU state to use the auction model of the European Hydrogen Bank. It intends to provide €350 million for this purpose. This was announced by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the EU Commission on Wednesday. The money will be used to subsidize the construction […]
The EU energy ministers have extended several emergency regulations resulting from the energy crisis by at least one year. The Council again relied on Article 122, which allows legislation to be passed without Parliament. In detail, these are:The Federal Ministry of Economics welcomed the extended acceleration of planning in particular. “With today’s decisions, we can […]
With their national climate targets, the EU member states will only save 51% of greenhouse gases by 2030 instead of the agreed 55%. This is what the Commission writes in its assessment of the draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP), which was published on Monday. The member states’ plans for renewables also fall short […]
Switzerland and the EU want to conclude their negotiations on a new framework agreement by the end of 2024. Both sides published an agreement to this effect last Friday. “The conclusion of the exploratory talks is a first and important step towards placing the EU-Switzerland bilateral relationship on a better footing,” reads a letter from […]
Today, climate researcher Ottmar Edenhofer is facing the perhaps most important lunch of his career. At the Environment Council in Brussels, the Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is to advise the ministers on the EU climate target for 2040. Edenhofer, who also chairs the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, […]
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Parliament and Council negotiators concluded the trilogue on the electricity market reform. In future, state support for renewable energies, with the exception of biomass, and for nuclear energy is to take the form of bilateral contracts for differences. However, according to the agreement text, “equivalent measures with the […]
SMEs and municipal companies in the EU will be able to benefit more easily from higher subsidies from the start of 2024. The Commission has extended two regulations on de minimis aid that were due to expire at the end of the year until the end of 2030, as the authority announced yesterday. The maximum […]
A few days before a possible decision on the start of accession negotiations with Ukraine, citizens from several European countries are divided on the country’s EU membership. In Germany, there is a slight majority against accession (39 to 37 percent), according to a survey published on Tuesday by YouGov and Datapraxis on behalf of the […]
Germany may compensate RWE with €2.6 billion for the premature lignite phase-out in the Rhenish mining area. “The measure promotes the decommissioning of lignite-fired power plants, which contributes to the decarbonization of the economy in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal,” said Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager on Monday.At the beginning of the […]