ITRE Committee gives green light to RED IV compromise

The Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) adopted the compromise amendments to the revisions of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED IV). Of the 60 members of the committee, 49 EU parliamentarians voted in favor, eight abstained and three voted against. The ITRE vote yesterday (Monday) paves the way for the plenary vote, which will take place next December. The amendments were negotiated by rapporteur and parliamentary director of the CDU/CSU group Markus Pieper (EPP).

RED III and RED IV are legislative revisions of the REPowerEU plan presented by the European Commission in May. It aims in particular to speed up the approval process for renewable energy projects. The MEPs now want to shorten the deadline to nine months. The Commission had proposed a deadline of one year. For power plants or new installations with a capacity of less than 150 kW, it should even be six months. Outside these areas, the compromise sets a maximum procedure duration of 18 months, whereas the European Commission had proposed two years.