The Thomsen report is the first comprehensive statement of the European Parliament after the EU’s Heads of State agreed in the spring Council on a 20% binding target for renewable energies by 2020. Today’s vote paves the way for the position of the Parliament on the upcoming proposal of the Commission for a Directive on Renewable Energies, due to adopt measures able to lead Europe towards reaching this target.
Until now, solar thermal was not covered by EU legislation. EU Directives are in force to promote renewables in the electricity and in the transport sector, but heating and cooling had so far been neglected. As this changed in the last years, it is now certain that the new Directive will also promote renewable heating sources.
With today’s vote the European Parliament asks the European Commission to ensure that “any proposal for a framework directive for renewables contains strong measures for the promotion of renewable heating and cooling”. Among them, the Parliament “calls on the Commission to speed up the widespread adoption in all Member States of best practice regulations making it compulsory, at least where existing buildings are substantially renovated and new buildings are built, for a minimum proportion of the heating requirement to be met from renewable sources, as it already is in a growing number of regions and municipalities”.
ESTIF Policy Director, Raffaele Piria, stated: “We warmly welcome this clear statement of the European Parliament. New buildings will last at least into the second half of the 21st century, when oil, gas and uranium will be very scarce and expensive. As the market alone does not deliver incentives to keep into account future conditions, we need solar obligations. We have now to work to convine the Council, i.e the national governments to support them”.
Last week, ESTIF published a comprehensive overview on the existing experience with solar obligations, including guidelines for best practice policies.
