To meet the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030, EU Member States need to establish a 10-year integrated national energy and climate plan (NECP) for the period from 2021 to 2030. Introduced under the Regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action (EU/2018/1999), the rules requires the final NECP to be submitted to the Commission by the end of 2019.
The national plans outline how the EU Member States intend to address:
– energy efficiency
– renewables
– greenhouse gas
– emissions reductions
– interconnections
– research and innovation
This approach requires a coordination of purpose across all government departments. It also provides a level of planning that will ease public and private investment. The fact that all EU Member States are using a similar template means that they can work together to make efficiency gains across borders.
As mentioned in the Governance Regulation (Article 3(3)), “with regard to their integrated national energy and climate plans, Member States shall (…) (b) take into account the interlinkages between the five dimensions of the Energy Union, in particular the energy efficiency first principle.” The NECPs are thus a key step in integrating energy efficiency first in the national energy strategies.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE MEMBER STATES’ NECPs.