The RE DII Directive contains provisions that are to lead to the achievement of the EU target of reducing CO2 emissions by 2030 at the level of 55%. However, as assessed by the European Commission, current projections indicate that if current policies are fully implemented, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the designated time would be around 45% compared to 1990 levels excluding emissions from land use and related absorption and around 47% when taking into account land use. It will not be enough to meet the 55% target. As the Commission points out, in order to do so, both climate legislation and energy policy need to be revised to raise these ambitious targets. For this reason, Brussels has launched the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2018/2002).
The commission also announced a revision of the so-called national energy and climate plans for the years 2021-2030, which may be associated with the call of EU countries to increase the targets adopted in these plans for the share of renewable energy in national energy mixes. The Commission has conducted a public consultation on the changes to the RED II directive in recent months, the results of which have now been made available.
80% of the consultation participants supported the increase of the RES target compared to the level provided for in the current version of the EU Directive 2018/2001. In addition, 64% of respondents were in favor of introducing obligatory targets at the level of the Member States into the RED II directive – that is, as in the first directive. On the other hand, as many as 86% of respondents supported increasing the EU target for green energy in transport. Most of the consultation participants also postulated to increase the RES target in terms of heating and cooling. In addition, 67% decided that it is necessary to introduce a RES target in industry, of which 12% said that such a target should apply only to selected industrial sectors. EU officials emphasize the need to introduce additional criteria for the use of forest biomass, but 56% of the consultants said that the current criteria for the use of forest biomass should not be changed.