COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the REFIT evaluation of the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast)
Date: 2016-11-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, air quality, energy consumption, energy saving, environmental cooperation, greenhouse gas, reduction of gas emissions, renewable energy, renewable resources

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.11.2016  SWD(2016) 417 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the REFIT evaluation of the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Accompanying the document Proposal for a  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) {COM(2016) 767 final} {SWD(2016) 416 final}  
 
 
The  Renewable  Energy  Directive1  (RES  Directive),  with  its  nationally  binding  renewable 
energy targets for 2020, is a core element of the 2009 EU climate and energy package. Given 
their  contribution  to  innovation,  growth,  jobs  and  security  of  energy  supply,  the  renewable 
energy targets are also part of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth, in particular of its flagship 
initiative for a resource-efficient Europe,. Furthermore, the Directive is the central EU level 
instrument to "promote the development of new and renewable forms of energy", an aim set 
out in Art 194(1)(c) TFEU.  

The 2009 RES Directive has effectively ensured that all Member State but one are currently 
on  track  to  achieve  their  2020  targets.  The  share  of  renewable  energy  (RES)  in  the  EU 
increased by almost 7 percentage points between 2007 and 2015 ( from 10.4% to 17%)2. The 
Directive  has  triggered  the  development  of  comprehensive  policies  in  all  Member  States  in 
the electricity, heating and cooling and transport sectors. In parallel with additional national 
RES  policies,  it  has  also  spurred  European-led  global  investment  and  technology  cost 
reductions that were still unimaginable a few years ago. While production volume and scale 
were probably the most successful elements triggered in 2009, the future framework for RES 
development will need to emphasise more market integration.  

Results of the public consultation3 highlighted that the RES Directive is considered successful 
in  helping  the  EU  reach  its  energy  and  climate  objectives  by  72%  of  respondents4.  In 
particular, the RES REFIT evaluation study5 found that its national binding targets were the 
most important driver for renewable energy policies and investments in many Member States, 
and  its  reporting,  planning  and  monitoring  obligations  were  rated  as  highly  effective  in  the 
Fitness Check Evaluation on energy planning and reporting6.  

Nevertheless, the Directive has so far delivered more impact in the electricity sector than in 
the  heating  and  cooling  sector.  In  transport,  the  10%  sub-target  established  in  the  Directive 
has successfully resulted in the implementation of blending mandates in the vast majority of 
the Member States. However, the biofuels sustainability scheme included in the Directive in 
2009  failed  to  anticipate  and  address  the  risk  of  indirect  land  use  change,  and  this  gap  was 
only addressed with the adoption of the ILUC Directive7 in 2015. 

With regard to efficiency, this evaluation found that the methodology underpinning the effort 
sharing for the 20% EU target struck the right balance between cost effectiveness and political 
acceptance.  However,  the  flexibility  and  cooperation  mechanisms  included  in  the  RES 
Directive (Articles 6 to 11), intended to help Member States achieve their national targets and 

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views", 

European 

Commission, 

Directive  2009/28/EC  on  the  promotion  of  the  use  of  energy  from  renewable  sources  (Renewable 
Energy Directive), OJ L 140, 5.6.2009 
Reference  year  used  in  2007  model  runs  for  the  2008  IA  for  the  2009  Climate  and  energy  package. 
Data: EUROSTAT and 2015 estimates (Öko –Institute, 2016).   
"Public  consultation  on  the  Renewable  Energy  Directive  for  the  period  after  2020:  Analysis  of 
stakeholder 
at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/consultations/preparation-new-renewable-energy-directive-period-after-
2020 
Among  those 72%, 100% of  Member  states  and  public authorities  consider  the  RED as  successful or 
even very successful and 94% of non-RES energy industries and 90% of network operators agree. 
"Mid-term  evaluation  of  the  Renewable  Energy  Directive.  A  study  in  the  context  of  the  REFIT 
Programme", CE Delft , 2015 
Fitness  check  of  the  Reporting,  "Planning  and  Monitoring  Obligations  in  the  EU  energy  acquis". 
Reference number to be added when this REFIT is adopted.  
Directive (EU) 2015/1513 amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels 
and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, OJ 
L 239, 15.9.2015 

available 

2016, 

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the  EU  overall  target  by  making  use  of  cost  effective  RES  development  in  other  Member 
States and third countries, have hardly been used by Member States.  

The  Directive  did  not  prescribe  support  schemes  as  obligatory,  nor  did  it  set  out  details  as 
regards their design and management. However, most Member States have relied on support 
measures  to  incentivise  RES  deployment.    Many  Member  States  have  introduced  support 
schemes  which  were  not  related  to  market  signals,  resulting  in  distortions  of  the  electricity 
market and leading in some cases to high support costs. In some cases, adjustments were also 
made  too  abruptly,  or  even  retroactively,  resulting  in  market  uncertainty  and  ultimately 
increasing the overall impact on investors.  

Solid  evidence  shows  the  relevance  of  the  Renewable  Energy  Directive  for  reaching  the 
greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, as well as for the delivery of Article 194(1c) of the 
Treaty. The increase in the use of renewable energy resulted in approximately 380 Mt of gross 
avoided  CO2  emissions  at  EU  level  in  20148.  Moreover,  the  benefits  of  renewables  include 
greater  security  of  supply  and  more  innovation,  jobs  and  growth.  For  example,  avoided 
imported fuel costs due to increasing use of renewable energy amount to around €20 billion a 
year  for  the  EU  as  a  whole9.  This  makes  renewable  energy  a  key  delivery  tool  for  several 
dimensions of the Energy Union Strategy and for EU commitments in the 2015 Paris Climate 
Agreement on climate change. 

With regard to coherence with other policies, the RES Directive has close links with Internal 
Energy Market provisions, the Emissions Trading System (ETS), and the Energy Efficiency 
Directive, among other policies. Despite general coherence with these policies, the impact of 
the  RES  support  schemes  in  the  electricity  market  and  a  better  alignment  of  measures  to 
promote  renewables  and  energy  efficiency  in  buildings  are  issues  to  be  further  analysed  as 
part of the preparations for the forthcoming proposal for a revised RES Directive. 

The  Directive  has  had  an  EU-added  value  since  the  EU  wide  roll-out  also  resulted  in 
significantly  higher  effects  of  scale  and  consecutively  more  pronounced  technology  cost 
reductions  for  new  on-shore  wind  and  solar  photovoltaic  capacity  (and  since  2015  also  for 
off-shore wind). This has made deployment cheaper for all the Member States involved.  

Moreover, by laying down common EU sustainability criteria for biofuels, the RES Directive 
has  prevented  market  fragmentation  and  potential  trade  barriers  that  could  have  arisen  if 
national sustainability rules had diverged.  

Finally,  the  EU  global  leadership  role  in  renewable  energy  has  contributed  to  the  spread  of 
renewable  energy  policies  around  the  world.  By  2015,  at  least  173  countries  had  adopted 
renewable  energy  targets,  and  an  estimated  146  countries  had  renewable  energy  support 
policies in place10. 

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"Renewable Energy in Europe 2016 – Recent growth and knock-on effects", EEA, 2016, No 4/2016 
"Interim Renewable Energy Progress Report", Öko Institut, 2016. 2014 figures 
Renewables 2016 - Global Status Report, REN21, 2016 

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