France, the Netherlands, Ireland and a number of other EU countries oppose the European Commission’s proposal to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources and achieve a 45 percent share of renewable energy in the EU’s total energy balance by 2030.
This is reported by Euractiv, referring to a document prepared for the upcoming meeting of energy ministers of the EU countries on Monday.
“EU states do not want to support the 45 percent target. Instead, most countries would prefer to stick to the 40 percent target set by the European Commission in July 2021,” the newspaper notes.
The European Commission justifies the need for a new, increased goal by the desire to abandon Russian hydrocarbons. The proposal has been discussed since May of this year, but as Euractiv points out, it has not yet received the support of most EU countries.
Nine countries, including Germany and Spain, are in favor of accelerating the pace of energy transition and the goal of 45 percent. According to Euractiv, Finland may join this group. Sweden also expressed support, but in connection with its upcoming presidency of the EU Council, Stockholm preferred to take a neutral position.
Currently, the share of renewable energy sources, as the publication notes, in the EU energy balance is just over 22 percent. It is planned to increase it by 2030 primarily due to wind energy.
