The agreements on renewables and energy efficiency targets pave the way for the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament, with the goal of reducing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

‘The agreement of the member states on these two proposals marks a major step forward in the fight against global warming. Decarbonising our energy systems through a massive deployment of renewable energies and significant efforts in energy savings is essential to achieve our climate objectives. It will also help us to reduce our dependence on Russia for energy, in the context of the war in Ukraine,’ said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Energy Transition in France.

The Council has agreed to set a binding European Union (EU) level target of 40% of energy from renewable sources in the overall energy mix by 2030. To advance the integration of renewables in sectors where incorporation has been slower, more ambitious sector-specific targets and measures were agreed.

Regarding sub-targets for transport, the Council introduced the possibility for member states to choose between a binding target of 13% GHG intensity reduction in transport by 2030 or other options such as a possibility to set a differentiated goal for maritime transport, as long as the overall goal is met; or a binding target of at least 29% renewable energy within the final consumption of energy in the transport sector by 2030.

The Council has announced a binding sub-target for advanced biofuels in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector at 0.2% in 2022, 1% in 2025 and 4.4 % in 2030, integrating the addition of a double counting for these fuels. Regarding renewable fuels of non-biological origin in transport (mostly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels), the Council agreed on an indicative sub-target of 2.6%, which corresponds to 5.2% also with the addition of a multiplier. The Council also added a cap to the amount of final consumption of energy in the maritime sector to be included in the calculation of their specific transport targets.

A gradual increase in renewable targets for heating and cooling has also been agreed, with a binding increase of 0.8%/y at national level until 2026 and 1.1% from 2026 to 2030. The Council set an indicative target of a 1.1% annual average increase in renewable energy use for industry. It also agreed that 35% of the hydrogen used in industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin by 2030 and 50% by 2035. A target of at least a 49% renewable energy share in buildings in 2030 was also set.

The Council included accelerated permitting procedures for renewable energy projects in line with the priorities of the RepowerEU plan as proposed by the Commission in May 2022. The purpose is to fast-track the deployment of renewable energies in the context of the EU’s plan to become independent from Russian fossil fuels.

Energy efficiency
The Council has agreed to reducing energy consumption at EU level by 36% for final energy consumption (energy consumed by end-users) and 39% for primary energy consumption (energy used for production and supply) by 2030. The key target of 36% reduction at EU level for final energy consumption would be binding. The targets use a new baseline and correspond to a 9% reduction target compared to 2020.

The Council agreed that all member states will contribute to achieving the overall EU target through indicative national contributions and trajectories, set by the member states in their integrated national energy and climate plans to be updated in 2023 and 2024.

The Council also agreed on a gradual increase of the energy savings target for final energy consumption. Member states would ensure savings of 1.1 % of annual final energy consumption from 1 January 2024; 1.3% from 1 January 2026; and 1.5% from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2030, with the possibility to carry over a maximum of 10% of excess savings to the following period.

The Council agreed to a specific obligation for the public sector to achieve an annual energy consumption reduction of 1.7%, or alternatively by at least 1.9% each year if excluding public transport or armed forces, that would be binding four years after the entry into force of the regulation, starting gradually with larger municipalities.

It also added a provision on the transparency of the energy consumption of data centres. Data centres would be required to publish information on their energy consumption every year from 2024. The Commission would draw a public EU database, compiling information on data centres’ energy consumption.

The Council and the Parliament will now enter interinstitutional negotiations to agree on the final text of the two directives.

Campaigners have been left disappointed by the fact that the primary efficiency target was abandoned as a binding objective, meaning EU member states will not be legally obliged to meet it. ‘Dropping a binding primary energy target means that energy conversion losses are kind of off the balance sheet – they don’t count,’ explained Brook Riley, a former green activist who is now head of EU Affairs at Rockwool. ‘As you can imagine, this suits countries with nuclear, it reassures those with big plans for hydrogen, and it means others can expand coal as an energy security stopgap,’ Riley said.