Governance of the Energy Union
The EU has passed a new mechanism for “Governance of the Energy Union” in order to regulate energy and climate policy in the EU. It aims to achieve the EU’s energy and climate targets and to coordinate the measures of the EU and its Member States post-2021. cep provides an assessment of the new rules in an Input.
cepInput
In cep’s view, governance is an expression of the major differences between the Member States regarding the type and extent of energy and climate policy measures. Whether its targets can be achieved is doubtful. By setting targets that are only binding EU-wide, without reinforcing them by way of binding national targets, the EU Commission loses the enforcement measure of infringement proceedings. The attempt by the governance mechanism to achieve the energy and climate targets by other means amounts to a procedural stopgap measure. By contrast, expanding the EU Emissions Trading System to all sectors would avoid extremely bureaucratic planning and reporting obligations as well as conflict-prone coordination proceedings.
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