Prompting European Union Member States to Contribute to the Energy Transition: A Legal Analysis of the Renewable Energy Governance System.

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is committed to rapidly increase the use of renewable forms of energy, which is essential to tackle climate change. Accordingly, the current Renewable Energy Directive (REDII) sets a target to achieve 32 % of renewable energy in the EU gross final consumption by 2030. However, REDII is silent on national legally binding targets, which is a step back in comparison to the previous Renewable Energy Directive (REDI). In parallel to REDII, the Governance Regulation introduces a set of rules to promote its implementation in EU Member States and enable the achievement of the 32 % target. This dissertation analyses whether the EU tools available under the Governance Regulation can compensate the lack of national legally binding targets to achieve the energy transition. A Nordic perspective is included through an analysis of the implementation of the renewable energy component of the climate and energy targets in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.