WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2062/98 by Esko SEPPÄNEN to the Commission. Promotion of renewable energy sources at national level
Date: 1998-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament, SEPPAENEN
Subjects: EU Member State, EU publication, electrical energy, energy consumption, energy policy, energy production, hydroelectric power, renewable energy, statistics

29.4.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 118/19

6.
As regards further action on this problem the Council would also remind the Honourable Member
that the European Council meeting on 15 and 16 June 1998 in Cardiff stressed that the year 2000 computer
problem should continue to receive top priority and therefore invited the Commission to report before the
Vienna meeting of the European Council on the initiatives which have been taken to improve the state of
readiness in each Member State.

(1999/C 118/022)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2062/98

by Esko Sepp(cid:228)nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Promotion of renewable energy sources at national level

(7 July 1998)

The European Union has set itself the target of increasing the proportion of energy from renewable
sources to 15 % of total energy produced. According to some estimates, the current proportion is only 8 %,
over three quarters of which is represented by hydro-electric power. If the figure of 15 % is to be achieved,
the growth must come from other energy sources.

Does the Commission have figures for the proportion of energy produced from renewable sources in each
Member State, and will an attempt be made at EU level to initiate national programmes to bring the
proportion of renewable energy up to 15 %?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission

(22 September 1998)

The Council adopted a resolution on 8 June 1998 (1) on promoting renewables with the clear objective of
doubling the present share of renewable energy sources in the Community(cid:146)s primary energy consumption
by 2010, from the current level of 6 % to 12 % based on recommendations of the Commission(cid:146)s white
paper and action plan for renewables, adopted in November 1997 (2).

Water power (large and small hydro) accounted for 13 % of total electricity generation in the Community
in 1995. The white paper contains tables with figures for the renewables share in total energy consumption
per Member State, as requested by the Honourable Member.

As part of the strategy put forward in the white paper, Member States will have to play a very large role in
the effort to increase the market penetration of renewables. The majority of Member States either already
have national plans and programmes aimed at doing so, or are in the process of adopting such schemes and
measures and will also need to allocate resources. The Commission is strongly encouraging this process at
national and regional level but it is for the Member States to set up such national programmes supporting
and promoting renewables.

The principal r(cid:244)le of the Community and the Commission is to undertake actions at Community level
when there is added value, to ensure coordination between the actions undertaken by Member States, and
to promote full transparency as well as a coherent and self-reinforcing approach and fair competition. The
Commission clearly also has a role to ensure the optimized use of existing Community resources in order
to promote renewables. The Commission is actively encouraging Member States to adopt their own
national targets for increased share of renewables, each according to its own circumstances and in full
respect of subsidiarity, but
it cannot oblige Member States to do so. The Commission has the
responsibility of carrying out the necessary monitoring of renewables and of making proposals for any
adjustment which may prove necessary over the course of the strategy, in order to keep the Community(cid:146)s
efforts as a whole on track towards the overall objective of reaching a 12 % share of renewables in the
Community(cid:146)s energy balance by 2010.

(1) OJ C 198, 24.6.1998.
(2) COM(97) 599 final.