During today’s Western Balkans Summit taking place in Vienna, representatives of the European Commission, including Maroš Šefčovič, Federica Mogherini and Johannes Hahn will be looking for means to revive the stalled EU accession talks with the countries of the Western Balkans. In a report published today, Climate Action Network Europe argues that they should use the framework of the Energy Union to advance integration in the field of energy and thus bring dirty energy systems of the Western Balkans closer to the EU standards. So far the Commission has missed important opportunities to stop new, highly polluting coal investments in the region.
Read more: The European Commission can turn the tide against coal in the Western Balkans
CAN Europe: This ETS reform cares less about saving the climate than about protecting industry.
Read more: First proposals on ETS reform: ‘Lacking vision and real ambition’
The European Council’s guidance from last year for 2030 targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency falls far short of the EU’s potentials.
Without tapping those potentials, the EU will miss out on major benefits for the economy, employment, energy security and climate action. Ending the historic bias towards fossil fuels requires higher ambition on energy efficiency and renewables.
Today the European Parliament adopted the Market Stability Reserve (MSR), which will temporarily remove some of the gigantic surplus of pollution permits in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, Greenpeace and WWF today called on the European Commission to propose a strong set of policies to ensure all countries contribute to delivering and surpassing the EU’s 2030 renewable energy target.
Read more: NGOs call for strong EU policies to beat the 2030 renewable energy target