EREC issued its call for policy stability on the last day of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) just as the Keep on Track! Project, which aims to monitor the fulfilment of the 2020 renewable energy targets across the EU, publishes the first edition of its annual EU Tracking Roadmap. The document will be published annually until 2015.
“It’s plain sailing for the 21 Member States who have already achieved their 2012 targets in 2011” said EREC President Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes. “However, there are worrying signs on the horizon as current growth rates are insufficient to meet the 2020 targets. EU Member States should create and implement predictable and stable legislative frameworks for renewable energy sources.”
EREC’s research focused on eleven EU member states, specifically Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Only three, Austria, Italy and Sweden, are expected to meet their 2020 targets and the consortium has serious doubts about whether Bulgaria, Germany, Greece and Portugal will actually meet theirs. Belgium, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom are expected to miss their targets altogether.
“The 2020 targets by their simple presence are providing growth and employment throughout Europe” Mr Hinrichs-Rahlwes added. “The EU’s renewables sector directly and indirectly employs more than 1.2 million people, which represents a 30% increase in just two years. By 2020, 2.7 million people in the EU could be employed by the renewables sector. In 2012, there were 5.7 million jobs worldwide in renewable energy industries, and the potential for job creation continues to be a main driver for renewable energy policies.”
The EU Tracking Roadmap 2013 and accompanying in-depth Policy Recommendations and Analysis of deviations and barriers can be downloaded from the Keep on Track! website.
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