What this consultation is about:
The Commission’s State of the Energy Union presented on 18 November 2015 states that “[t]he Energy Union needs a reliable and transparent governance process, anchored in legislation, to make sure that energy related actions at European, regional, national and local level all contribute to the Energy Union’s objectives.” This corresponds to similar calls from the European Council and the European Parliament[*].
The State of the Energy Union also underlines that “[i]ntegrated national energy and climate plans, addressing all five dimensions of the Energy Union, are necessary tools to have more strategic planning”, and that “[i]n order to track progress, a transparent monitoring system needs to be put in place based on key indicators as well as on Member States’ biannual reports concerning progress made on their national plans”. This builds further on the Commission’s Communication on the Energy Union from February 2015, which explained that a purpose of the governance process for the Energy Union is to “streamline current planning and reporting requirements, avoiding unnecessary administrative burden”.
In this context, the present consultation seeks stakeholders’ views on current planning and reporting arrangements in the energy field, and on how these could be improved to better serve the objectives of the Energy Union and to reduce administrative burden. An overview of existing planning and reporting obligations in the energy sector concerning the Member States as well as the Commission is available here: COM planning and reporting obligations (energy field); MS planning and reporting obligations (energy field); COM planning and reporting obligations (climate field); MS planning and reporting obligations (climate field).
The responses to the public consultation will feed into the Commission’s evaluation and fitness check of existing planning and reporting obligations (a REFIT initiative in the Commission’s 2015 Work Programme) as well as into the Impact Assessment for the Commission’s proposal(s) for streamlining of planning and reporting in the energy field foreseen for late 2016, as announced by the State of the Energy Union.
The consultation as well as the initiatives it will contribute to should be understood in the broader context of the Energy Union strategy; the Commission’s guidance to Member States on national plans from 18 November 2015, and the Council’s Conclusions on Energy Union governance from 26 November 2015 – which underscore the need for holistic national plans that address all five dimensions of the Energy Union in an integrated way.
This public consultation also relates to the preparation of other initiatives to implement the Energy Union foreseen for 2016 (notably initiatives on energy efficiency, renewable energy and electricity market design). For other completed and ongoing public consultation processes and their outcomes, see: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/consultations.
Complete Consultation is attached as a pdf.
