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UPDATING THE EU’S ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY. THE NEW 2030 FRAMEWORK AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
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Energy Market Package was passed in 2009.
Politically, the attention was mostly focused on
the conflicts caused by tightening provisions re-
garding the “unbundling” of large energy utili-
ties. But creating new institutions and accelerat-
ing the implementation of detailed regulatory
provisions have achieved the most far-reaching
integration. This development, however, was
hardly noticed outside of a small circle of ex-
perts. In this context, the focus has been placed
mainly on using and expanding the existing
electricity and natural gas grids. For instance,
the harmonization of trade rules and technical
network codes will greatly simplify cross-border
flows of electricity and gas. According to new
EU regulation, transmission system operators,
which had operated mostly domestically up to
that point, were required to found cooperation
structures (ENTSO-E for electricity grids,
ENTSO-G for natural gas grids), and they have
been assigned specific tasks, such as regularly
developing European ten-year network devel-
opment plans. An Agency for the Cooperation
of Energy Regulators (ACER) has been created,
which has the authority to make the final deci-
sion on cross-border projects if the authorities
of the respective Member States fail to reach an
agreement.
While the core area of energy market regula-
tions is gradually and almost silently being
Europeanized, the topic of infrastructure devel-
opment is turning into a new area of conflict. In
2011, the Commission launched a fundamental
discussion about the role of the EU in network
development by submitting a proposal in favor
of harmonizing the permitting procedures and
giving the EU more control over the funding as-
pect of infrastructure development projects. The
core of this Energy Infrastructure Package is con-
stituted by a new procedure for identifying “pro-
jects of common interest” and the proposal to
have the EU carry a significant part of the finan-
cial burden for these projects. Finally about 5
billion Euros have been allocated for energy pro-
jects over the duration of the next multiannual
financial framework (2014-2020). The envis-
aged “Connecting Europe Facility“ for the
2014-2020 period has been designed as a high-
level follow-up funding tool for financing infra-
structure projects.
Not all Member States have given their full
support to this initiative launched by the
Commission, however. In particular, the net
contributors among the Member States have
expressed reservations about the EU’s extensive
participation in energy infrastructure projects.
Their reservations are based on the argument
that in a liberalized market, private companies
and not the public sector should make infra-
structure investments. Eastern and Southern
European governments, however, stress the
need for larger EU investments in those sectors
and regions in which the market itself does not
provide the necessary funding. While it is rather
certain that the level of energy infrastructure
funding will be significantly above that of the
current TEN-E program, net contributors among
Member States will probably force large cuts to
the Commission’s original budget proposal.
Roadmaps for 2050
Since 2009, the EU’s long-term climate policy
benchmark of reducing its greenhouse gas emis-
sions by 80-95% until the year 2050 (compared
to 1990 levels) has been reflected in a number of
Commission papers and conclusions submitted
by the European Council and the sector-specific
councils of ministers. This benchmark is not
a legally binding goal; rather, it reflects a mitiga-
tion corridor that the Intergovernmental