COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Assessment of progress towards the objectives of the Energy Union and Climate Action Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Commitee of the Regions State of the Energy Union 2023 Report (pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action)
Date: 2023-10-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU energy policy, carbon neutrality, energy cooperation, energy diversification, energy efficiency, energy supply, energy transition, renewable energy, security of supply, self-sufficiency in energy

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.10.2023  SWD(2023) 646 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Assessment of progress towards the objectives of the Energy Union and Climate Action       Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Commitee of the Regions State of the Energy Union 2023 Report    (pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action) {COM(2023) 650 final}  
 
 
Table of Contents 
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3 

1.1 Submission, review and assessment of the National Energy and Climate Progress Reports 
(NECPRs) .............................................................................................................................................. 3 

2. Progress towards meeting the objectives........................................................................................... 5 

2.1 Decarbonisation ............................................................................................................................ 5 

2.1.1 Greenhouse gas emission and removals................................................................................ 5 

2.1.2 Climate adaptation............................................................................................................... 11 

2.1.3 Renewable energy ............................................................................................................... 13 

2.2 

Energy efficiency ................................................................................................................... 23 

2.2.1 Progress towards indicative trajectory and 2030 savings contribution .............................. 23 

2.2.2 Exemplary role of public bodies’ buildings – Article 5 of the EED ....................................... 28 

2.2.3 Energy savings obligation – Article 7 of the EED .................................................................. 30 

2.2.4 Progress towards the long-term strategy for renovation .................................................... 36 

2.3 Ensuring energy security ............................................................................................................. 39 

2.3.2. Reduction of demand .......................................................................................................... 41 

2.3.3. Ability to cope with constrained or interrupted supply of an energy source ..................... 42 

2.3.4. Other targets and non-quantifiable objectives related to energy security ........................ 43 

2.4 Achieving an interconnected internal energy market ................................................................ 44 

2.4.1 Electricity interconnectivity ................................................................................................. 44 

2.4.2 Infrastructure projects ......................................................................................................... 44 

2.4.3 Energy system flexibility ...................................................................................................... 44 

2.4.4 Non-discriminatory participation in energy markets ........................................................... 45 

2.4.5 Consumer participation in the energy system and benefits from self-generation and new 
technologies, including smart meters ........................................................................................... 46 

2.4.6 Electricity system adequacy ................................................................................................. 46 

2.5 Research & innovation and competitiveness ............................................................................. 48 

2.5.1 Translating the SET Plan objectives and policies ................................................................. 48 

2.5.2 Public and, where available, private spending in research and innovation relating to clean 
energy technologies ...................................................................................................................... 49 

2.5.3 Long term decarbonisation targets ...................................................................................... 50 

2.5.4 Competitiveness................................................................................................................... 51 

2.6 Energy subsidies .......................................................................................................................... 52 

2.7 Energy poverty ............................................................................................................................ 54 

2.8 Just transition .............................................................................................................................. 55 

2.9 Links with the European Semester ............................................................................................. 56 

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3 Policy and measures to achieve the objectives ................................................................................. 57 

3.1 Progress in implementing policies and measures ....................................................................... 57 

3.1.2 Progress towards financing .................................................................................................. 61 

3.2 Reported effects and costs of policies and measures ................................................................ 62 

3.2.1 Indicators used to monitor progress on PaMs ..................................................................... 62 

3.2.2 GHG emission savings .......................................................................................................... 62 

3.2.3 Impacts on air quality and emissions to air ......................................................................... 64 

4 Regional cooperation ......................................................................................................................... 66 

5 Multilevel climate and energy dialogues ........................................................................................... 68 

6 Conclusion and lessons learnt ............................................................................................................ 70 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Introduction 
1.1 Submission, review and assessment of the National Energy and Climate Progress 
Reports (NECPRs) 
The  Governance  Regulation  requires1  Member  States  to  report  every  two  years  on  the  progress 
achieved towards the implementation of their integrated national energy and climate plans (NECPs) 
through National Energy and Climate Progress Reports (NECPRs). By 15 March 2023, Member States 
were  due  to  report  for  the  first  time  on  their  progress  towards  implementing  their  NECPs  for  the 
period 2021-2030, and notably  towards their objectives,  targets and contributions set out  therein, 
across the five dimensions of the energy Union including on greenhouse gas emissions and removals 
as  well  as  the  implementation  or  amendment  of  Member  States  policies  and  measures  and  their 
financing. Moreover, Member States had to report on progress towards their adaptation goals, as well 
as on the impact of their policies and measures on air quality and emissions of air pollutants. 

Importantly,  Member  States  were  also  due  to  report  on  the  steps  taken  to  establish  a  multilevel 
energy  and  climate  dialogue2  to  engage  with  local  authorities,  civil  society  organisations,  business 
community, investors and other relevant stakeholders and the public on energy and climate policies. 
The integrated nature of the reporting represents a significant reduction of administrative burden on 
the side of both the Commission and the Member States as compared to the multiple reporting and 
assessment  obligations  spread  through  the  energy  acquis  prior  to  the  entering  into  force  of  the 
Governance Regulation. This integrated reporting has also allowed for a more holistic assessment of 
progress with strong synergies. 

The Commission’s assessment of progress in this Staff Working Document is based on the Member 
States’ objectives, targets and contributions as included within their NECPs, and framed by the content 
and timing of the submitted NECPRs. Eight Member States submitted a prima facie full progress report 
by  the  15  March  deadline,  and  10  more  submitted  their  progress  report  relatively  close  to  the 
deadline. As of 1 October, twenty-six Member States submitted their prima facie full progress report.  

To  ensure  comparability  and  limit  the  administrative  burden  on  Member  States,  the  progress 
reporting  makes  use  of  comparable  energy  statistics  where  available.  As  a  result,  the  latest 
consolidated data in certain areas relates to 2021 or 2022. 

The assessment is based primarily on the progress reports. It is complemented with other information 
and indicators where appropriate, with data quality and availability varying between topics. This is 
particularly important to consider developments since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against 
Ukraine, which is not reflected in data with cut-off in 2021. 

Member States are in the process of updating the NECPs in view of the increased energy and climate 
ambition  and  much-changed  geopolitical  situation  since  the  submission  of  the  original  plans.  The 
Union’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the Commission’s REPowerEU Plan has 
resulted, amongst others, in increased Union’s energy ambitions. The final updated NECPs are due by 
30 June 2024.  

Following the submission of the progress reports, a quality assurance and control process was started, 
in which Member States resubmitted parts of the progress reporting to add or clarify information. This 
process  has  yielded  good  results  in  improving  the  completeness  and  consistency  of  the  reported 

1 Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 
2 Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 

3 

 
 
 
information,  although  it  is  not  yet  fully  completed  (56%  complete  by  1  October)  in  view  of  late 
submissions by the Member States. 

4 

 
 
 
2. Progress towards meeting the objectives 
2.1 Decarbonisation 
2.1.1 Greenhouse gas emission and removals 
The “Fit for 55” package” sets the EU on a path to reach its climate targets in a fair, cost-effective and 
competitive way. With most of its key proposals adopted by co-legislators,3 Union policies are now 
aligned with the updated 2030 target as set in the European Climate Law. The implementation of the 
new legislation under the Fit for 55 package will enable the EU and its Member States to achieve a net 
domestic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by least 55% compared to 1990 by 2030 (see also 
Chapter  1  of  the  Climate  Action  Progress  Report  2023  –  Emission  trends  and  progress  in  climate 
action).4 

Figure  1:  Total  EU  GHG  emissions  (excluding  international  aviation)  and  removals  (1990-2022),  linear 
trajectories to EU targets, and Member States’ latest GHG emissions projections (2022–2050).5  

The  preliminary  data  for  2022  show  that  EU  GHG  net  emissions  decreased  by  around  3%  in  2022 
continuing the overall downward trend of the past 30 years. After the strong rebound in greenhouse 
gas (GHG) emissions in 2021 following the unprecedented fall in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
EU  emissions  in 2022  are  expected  to  be  back  in  line  with  the  30-year  descending  trend  achieved 
before the pandemic. According to provisional data, total EU domestic GHG emissions (i.e. excluding 
LULUCF and international aviation) decreased by 2.4% in 2022 compared to 2021, whilst EU GDP grew 

3 This includes in particular the revised EU Emissions Trading System Directive, including a new ETS for buildings, road 
transport and fuels, the Market Stability Reserve, the Effort Sharing Regulation, CO2 standards for cars and vans, the Land 
Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the establishment of the Social 
Climate  Fund,  FuelEU  Maritime,  the  Alternative  Fuel  Infrastructure  Regulation  (AFIR),  ReFuel EU  Aviation,  the  Energy 
Efficiency  Directive  and  the  Renewable  Energy  Directive.  There  is  only  one  remaining  proposal  still  pending  with  co-
legislators, i.e. the proposal for a revised energy taxation directive. 
4 The legislation as adopted is estimated to result in a net domestic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 57% compared 
to 1990 by 2030. 
5 Notes: (1) Historical GHG emissions and removals (1990-2022) are based on European Environment Agency’s 2023 GHG 
Inventory and Approximated emissions and removals. (2) Linear trajectories for GHG emissions and removals (2022-2050) 
are based on the legislated EU 2030 targets, while emissions and removals by 2050 reflect estimates from the different model-
based analyses supporting the “Delivering the European Green Deal”. (3) The -55% 2030 target (EU Climate Law) considers 
a contribution of removals of -225 MtCO2eq. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
by 3.5%. This translates into a reduction in GHG emissions of 30.4% compared to the 1990 base year 
(or 29% when international aviation is included). Reported GHG net removals from land use, land use 
change, and forestry (LULUCF) are also expected to increase by 14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent 
compared to 2021.6 As a result, net GHG emissions for 2022 (i.e. including LULUCF) are expected to 
be 32.5% below the 1990 level (or 31.1% when international aviation is included). 

For a more detailed assessment on the EU and Member States’ progress towards climate mitigation 
targets, refer to the Climate Action Progress Report 2023 and its accompanying technical annex. 

Progress towards national objectives, targets and contributions for GHG emissions reduction 

All Member States reported on progress towards national objectives, targets and contributions (Annex 
I). However, reports varied across Member States and information were largely insufficient to provide 
a collective EU assessment. 

Climate neutrality 

More  than  half  of  Member  States  defined  the  objective  to  achieve  climate  neutrality  by  2050  or 
earlier,  in  line  with  their  national  long-term  strategies  (Table  1).  Austria  indicated  a  later  year  for 
achieving  climate  neutrality  (i.e.  2050)  compared  to  what  Austria  had  previously  reported  in  an 
updated  of  its  long-term  strategy  (i.e.  2040),  while  Estonia,  Germany  and  Greece  have  formally 
indicated, for the first time, a target year to achieve climate neutrality.  

Table 1: Target years for climate neutrality and scopes reported in the NECP progress reports and national 
long-term strategies. 

Member 
State 

Target year for climate 
neutrality 

Total GHG emissions, 
excluding LULUCF, 
excluding 
international aviation 

Total GHG emissions, 
including LULUCF, 
excluding 
international aviation 

NECPR 

LTS 

NECPR 

2050 

2040 

Yes 

2050 

2050 

2035 
2050 

2050 

2050 
2050 

2050 
2050 
2035 
2050 
2045  
2050 
2050 

2050 
2050 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

LTS 

yes 

yes 
yes 

yes 
yes 
yes 
yes 
yes 
yes 

yes 
yes 

NECPR 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

LTS 

Yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 
yes 
yes 
yes 

yes 
yes 

Yes 

yes 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

6 Approximated 2022 data could suggest a break to the declining trend in the LULUCF sink observed in recent years. However, 
the assessment takes into consideration the large uncertainty of these data and as it will possibly be subject to larger revisions. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

2050 
2050  

2050 
2050 

2050 

2050 

2050 
2050 
2050 

2050 
2050 
2050 
2045 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

yes 

yes 
yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

yes 
yes 
yes 
yes 

yes 

yes 
yes 
yes 

Sweden 
Sources: reportnet 3, LTS (compiled by LTS project, includes updated information) 

National GHG targets 

Most of the Member States have also indicated quantitative national GHG targets up to 2050, but not 
for  all  required  years  (2030,  2040,  2050)  and  with  different  scope.  Therefore,  assessing  progress 
against  previously  indicated  national  targets,  such  as  those  reported  in  their  national  long-term 
strategies submitted under Article 15 of the Governance Regulation (Table 2) is not straightforward. 
For  the  few  cases  where  a  comparison  is  possible,  Member  States  have  in  general  increased  their 
climate ambitions.  

7 

 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
Table 2: National GHG emission milestones  from  NECPR  and  national  long-term  strategies  (LTS).  Excluding 
LULUCF, excluding international aviation  

NECPR (AR5 GWP) 

LTS (and LTS updates) (AR4 GWP) 

2030 

2040 
Mt CO2e 
36 

2050 

Member State 

2030 

2040 
Mt CO2e 

2050 

Member State 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy7 

Latvia8 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

118 

70 

39 

Czechia 

29 
312 
439  
61 
57 

329 
6.5 

14 
197 
150  
56 

8.5 

7 
81 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

5.5  

2.2  

1.7  

Luxembourg 

113 

48 
118 
33 
13 
221 

Malta 

11 

Netherlands 

Poland 

30 

13 

Portugal 

7 
101 

2 
29 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

- 
- 
56 
20 
- 
105 
38 
12 
36 
311 
438 
57 
45 
- 
- 
9 
- 
- 
11 
- 
- 
39 
- 
34 
- 
222 
26 

- 
- 
21 
15 
- 
70 
- 
11 
8.5 
187 
149 
- 
29 
- 
- 
4 
14 
- 
0.8 
- 
- 
21 
- 
28 
- 
102 
9 

16 
- 
16 
8 
- 
39 
- 
8 
-1.5 
65 
- 
5 
5 
- 
65 
- 
10 
- 
0.4 
- 
- 
9 
- 
14 
- 
29 
- 

Source: reportnet 3, LTS (compiled by LTS project, includes updated information) 

7 Original reported values have been corrected to reflect the correct unit metric. 
8 Original reported values have been corrected to reflect the correct unit metric. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
Table 3: National GHG emission milestones  from  NECPR  and  national  long-term  strategies  (LTS).  Including 
LULUCF, excluding international aviation  

NECPR (AR 5 GWP) 

LTS (and LTS updates) (AR 4 GWP) 

Member State 

2030 

2040 
Mt CO2e 

2050 

Member State 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia9 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

23 

272 

0 
0 
14 

0 
143 

56 

50 

4 
16 
50 

8 
7 
17 

0 
10 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

11 
186 

5 
67 

0 
-8 

2030 

2040 
Mt CO2e 

2050 

-0.5 

47 

13 

9 

6 

2 

17 
17 
271 

11 
3 
133 

41 

25 

10 
13 
7 
1.1 
49 

6 

0.8 

39 

22 

7 
185 

3 
65 

-8 
5 
-18 
-2 

5 

0.4 
11 

9 

7 

-8 

Source: reportnet 3, LTS (compiled by LTS project, includes updated information) 

The GHG emission projections supporting the NECP progress reports show that for the economy-wide 
greenhouse gas emissions reductions, emissions by 2030 reduce under existing and planned measures 
by 45 % and 50 % respectively below 1990 levels. This is an improvement compared to the 41% below 
1990  levels  under  existing  and  planned  measures  estimated  in  the  2020  EU-wide  assessment  of 
National Energy and Climate Plans10, but it falls short of the EU 55% reduction target, showing clearly 
that additional implementation efforts are needed. 

9 Original reported values have been corrected to reflect the correct unit metric. 
10 COM (2020) 564 final 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Progress towards ESR targets 

The Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) covers greenhouse gas emissions accounting for around 60% of 
total domestic EU emissions. It covers emissions from domestic transport (excluding CO2 emissions 
from aviation), buildings, agriculture, small industry, and waste. The legislation sets binding national 
targets to reduce emissions in these sectors by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, which are translated 
into binding national emission limits for the period 2021-2030.  

Based on the GHG inventories, EU-wide emissions in the ESR sectors in 2021 remained 3.3% below the 
aggregated emissions limit. The emissions exceeded national emission limits in five Member States: 
Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland and Italy.11 Forward-looking GHG projections show that EU-wide ESR 
emissions would reduce by 32% in 2030 compared to 2005 levels. This is below the EU-wide ESR target 
to reduce ESR emissions in 2030 by 40% compared to 2005 levels. For a more detailed assessment on 
the  EU  and  Member  States  progress  towards  the  ESR  national  limits,  refer  to  the  Climate  Action 
Progress Report 2023 and its accompanying technical annex. 

Progress towards LULUCF targets 

The land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector plays a crucial role in achieving the EU’s 
climate neutrality goal. The sector includes emissions and removals from the use of soils, trees, plants, 
biomass and timber, and is responsible for both emitting and absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. For 
the EU, the LULUCF sector absorbs more greenhouse gases than it emits, achieving significant net 
carbon  removals.  The  sector  also  provides  biomaterials  that  substitute  fossil  or  carbon  intensive 
materials, an equally important role in the transition to a climate-neutral economy. However, carbon 
removals from the sector have declined at a worrying speed in the last years. The revised LULUCF 
Regulation12 sets out how the land use sector contributes to the EU’s climate goals, namely through a 
land-based net carbon removals target of 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030. To reach 
this objective, targets are allocated to Member States, based on the total managed land area within 
their territory.  

In 2021, the EU's carbon sinks were a net removal of -230 Mt CO2-eq. Moreover, the trend of recent 
years  persisted,  and  the  size  of  the  carbon  sink  is  continuing  to  decrease.  With  current  LULUCF 
accounting rules applicable to the period 2021- 2025, the ‘accounted’ balance for 2021, produced a 
slight accounted  credit  of  -14  Mt  CO2  -eq.  Nine  Member  States  showed  potential  net  accounting 
credits. 
debits 

sixteen  Member 

accounting 

potential 

showed 

States 

and 

net 

Projections on reported emissions and removals, delivered by Member States in March 2023, have 
been assessed for progress LULUCF towards the 2030 targets. Projections with existing measures show 
EU total net removals of -239 MtCO2eq for 2030 and -260 MtCO2eq with additional measures, leaving 
a  gap  of  between  around  50-70  MtCO2e  to  meet  the  2030  target.  This  means  that  the  EU  is  not, 
according to projections, on track to meet the 2030 net removal target of -310 MtCO2eq. For a more 
detailed assessment see Chapter 4 of the Climate Action Progress Report). 

11 The final ESR emissions for 2021 will be only determined after a comprehensive review in 2027, when the compliance cycle 
for each of the years 2021 to 2025 will take place. These five Member States will need to use flexibilities to comply with their 
annual target. 
12 Regulation (EU) 2023/839 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 April 2023 amending Regulation (EU) 
2018/841 as regards the scope, simplifying the reporting and compliance rules, and setting out the targets of the Member States 
for 2030, and Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 as regards improvement in monitoring, reporting, tracking of progress and review 
(OJ L 107, 21.4.2023, p. 1). 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
2.1.2 Climate adaptation 
In face of climate change increasingly affecting the energy sector and climate mitigation efforts, Article 
4 of the Governance Regulation required Member States to include climate adaptation goals into their 
National Energy and Climate Plans, as appropriate, in support to the achievement of the Energy Union 
objectives, at least in the “Decarbonisation” dimension.  

The  Regulation’s  requirements  for  adaptation  goals  are  formulated  partly  in  a  conditional  way. 
Outside the Decarbonisation dimension’s greenhouse gas emissions part, such goals were mandatory 
only if applicable. The relationship of these adaptation goals to those set out in the national adaptation 
policies (on which reporting was required under Article 19 of the same Regulation13) has also been a 
source  of  confusion.  This  has  led  to  diverging  interpretations  among  Member  States  of  how 
adaptation is to be tackled in the National Energy and Climate plans, which makes it challenging to 
horizontally assess the progress achieved.14 

Hazards  considered  relevant  by  the  Member  States  for  the  Energy  Union  included  changes  in 
frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts, stronger storms as well 
as  an  increased  amount  of  precipitation.  Several  Member  States  (France,  Czech  Republic,  Finland, 
Greece)  related  vulnerabilities  to  the  following  Energy  Union  dimensions:  Decarbonisation:  GHG 
emissions and removals, Decarbonisation: renewable energy, and Energy Security. For most of the 
other Member States, only the Decarbonisation dimension was targeted. In some cases, all Energy 
Union dimensions were addressed (e.g., Austria and Croatia). It was sometimes the case that specific 
links between vulnerabilities/risks and dimensions were not sufficiently detailed, or the language was 
quite general (e.g., Romania, Netherlands, and Latvia).  

Examples of vulnerabilities and risks cited include: 

•  Spain identifying the vulnerability of the energy system to water scarcity under the Research, 

innovation and competitiveness dimension. 

•  Finland  identifying  a  reduction  in  the  availability  and  quality  of  biomass  as  a  risk  across 

Decarbonisation (GHG emissions and removals and renewable energy). 

•  Portugal  identifying  concerns  around  water  availability,  droughts,  and  fire  risks,  impacting 
renewable  energy  production  (especially  hydropower)  as  part  of  the  Decarbonisation: 
renewable energy dimension. 

To deal with these risks, Member States introduced both overarching national adaptation goals and 
sector  specific  adaptation  goals  in  linked  sectors  such  as  agriculture,  buildings,  forestry,  energy, 
infrastructure, and transport. Twenty Member States mentioned adaptation goals, the majority fully 
addressing  the  identified  risks  (14  fully,  8  partially).  In  most  cases,  the  adaptation  goals  are  not 
organised along the Energy Union dimensions, the NECP only refers to adaptation policies in general. 
fourteen Member States detailed the adaptation goals in the NECP itself, 4 only partially, while some 
of the NECPs only included adaptation action in policies and measures chapters, with adaptation goals 
not explicitly included. 

Examples of adaptation goals include: 

13 An assessment of the Member States’ adaptation policy reporting under Article 19 of the Governance Regulation is included 
in the Climate Action Progress Report accompanying the State of the Energy Union Report. 
14 Further analysis of Member State reporting on adaptation goals supporting Energy Union objectives is included in chapter 
7 of the European Topic Centre on Climate change adaptation and LULUCF (ETC-CA)’s report about the status of reported 
national adaptation actions in 2023 (to be published) 

11 

 
 
 
•  Slovakia substantially strengthening research and the production of technical bases, to 
prepare by 2021 an action plan for adaptation with clear measures to accelerate the 
integration of climate change adaptation in all areas. 

•  Spain’s adaptation goals focusing on plans to avert, minimize and address the climate risks 
of reduced hydroelectricity production, reduced cooling water resources for power plants, 
impacts of coastal floods on energy infrastructure and impacts on ports interfering with the 
trading of energy products. 

•  Romania presenting policies and measures in agriculture, rural development, and forestry, 

with specific aim at addressing climate adaptation. 

Monitoring and evaluation frameworks for adaptation goals are either recent or under development 
in the Member States, and operate under national adaptation strategies or plans, rarely considering 
synergies with the Energy Union dimensions. Thirteen Member States reported clear progress with 
the implementation of adaptation actions for each adaptation goal. Examples include: 

•  Austria  reported  the  mainstreaming  of  adaptation  into  local  energy  strategies  and  the 

optimization of network infrastructure. 

•  Finland stated climate change is already being considered in energy policy scenarios, whereby 
renewable energy sources other than bioenergy are being subsidized, and new measures are 
taken to adapt the energy infrastructure. 

•  Malta reported progress among others, in creating incentives to incorporate green features 

and measures in buildings. 

Figure 2: Overview of the assessment of progress on climate adaptation action supporting the objectives of 
the Energy Union 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.1.3 Renewable energy  
2.1.3.1 Overall renewable share 
In 2021, the EU reached a share of 21.8 % of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, a 
slight reduction compared to 2020 (22%), which can be explained to a large degree by a higher overall 
energy  consumption  as  economic  activity  picked  up  following  the  lifting  of  COVID  restrictions. 
Moreover, several Member States saw their shares dropping. In absolute terms, the consumption of 
renewable energy increased by approx. 5% compared to 2020, with 220 804 Mtoe compared to 209 
595 Mtoe the year before. 

Putting  the  progress  in  the  context  of  the  pathway  towards  2030,  the  2021  RES  share of 21.8%  is 
slightly below the target of the binding interim trajectory share of 22.2% for 2022.15 based on the 2030 
target of 32% in RED II and  would be more than 2 percentage points  below this trajectory when 
considering the updated target of 42.5% (the milestone would be slightly above 24%). On average, 
the  overall  renewable  energy  share  has  been  increasing  by  0.67  percentage  points  annually  since 
2010. The new 2030 EU target of 42.5% (and even more so the aspirational target of 45%) will require 
a much faster growth in the coming years. Progress has been especially strong in the electricity sector, 
with an increase in the renewables share from 21.3% in 2010 to 37.6% in 2021.The progress in heating 
and cooling (from 17% to 22.9%), and transport (from 5.5% to 9.1%). While final numbers for 2022 
are not available yet, an acceleration of renewables deployment can be expected, although not yet at 
the level required for the updated 2030 target. 2022 saw especially strong increases in newly installed 
capacities  for  solar  PV  and  wind  which  were  45%  (wind)  and  47%  (solar  PV)  higher  than  in  2021. 
Moreover, in 2022, sales of heat pumps rose by 39% compared to 202116. The solar thermal market 
increased by almost 12%17. 

Figure 3: EU-27 RES-shares 2010-2021 (%) 

Sources: Eurostat SHARES 

The  renewable  energy  shares  in  2021  vary  widely  across  Member  States,  reflecting  the  different 
starting  positions  and  national  targets  set  for  each  Member  State  in  RED  I  and  the  national 
contributions set in the National Energy Climate Plans. Sweden achieved the highest renewable energy 

15 Governance Regulation Article 4 
16 Market data – European Heat Pump Association (ehpa.org) 
17 Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer 2023 

13 

 
 
 
 
share in 2021 (63%), followed by Finland (43%) and Latvia (42%). The lowest renewable energy shares 
were seen in Luxembourg, Malta, Ireland, the Netherlands in Belgium, all with a share not higher than 
13%. Several Member States saw substantial drops in the share, especially Bulgaria with a drop of 6.3 
percentage points (mainly due to the reduction in bioenergy resulting from the lack of transposition 
of  the  relevant  rules)  and  Ireland  with  a  drop  of  3.7  percentage  points  (due  to  not  engaging  in 
statistical  transfers  and  a  reduction  of  bioenergy).  Others  such  as  Estonia  (with  a  rise  of  almost  8 
percentage  points)  saw  greater  increases,  especially  due  to  not  (or  less)  engaging  in  statistical 
transfers. 

Figure 4: Member States RES shares 2021 with statistical transfers vs. 2020 target, 2022 milestone and 2030 
RES share contribution 

Source: Eurostat SHARES, RED, NECPs, calculation (2022 milestone) 

Considering  both  national  deployment  and  currently  notified  statistical  transfers,  the  following 
Member States had in 2021 a share below their 2020 binding renewable energy target under RED I: 
France (3.7 percentage point lower than the 2020 target), Ireland (3.5 p.p.), the Netherlands (1 p.p.) 
and  Romania  (0.6  p.p.).  This  means  that  these  Member  States  will  have  to  take,  within  one  year, 
additional measures to cover the gap within the duration of one more year18. The following Member 
States have used statistical transfers in 2021 to meet the baseline: Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and 
Malta. These countries bought renewables surpluses from Denmark, Czechia, Finland and Estonia (see 
2.1.3.6 for more details). 

Three Member States were already high above their 2022 milestone: Sweden (63%, milestone: 52%), 
Estonia (38%, milestone: 28%) and Croatia (31%, milestone: 23%). 

18 according to Art. 32 (4) Governance Regulation 

14 

 
 
 
 
2.1.3.2 RES-Electricity  
Between 2010 and 2021, the share of RES technologies in the total electricity generation has seen a 
continuous increase.  The sector had a renewables share of 37.6%, a modest increase of 0.3 
percentage points due to overall higher energy demand compared to the very strong increase of 3.4 
percentage points from 2019 to 2020.  

The largest share in RES-E technology was hydro with 348 TWh production in 2021, followed by 339 
TWh for onshore wind, 159 TWh for solar PV, 93 TWh for solid biomass, 53 TWh for biogas and 48 
TWh for offshore wind. Geothermal electricity (7 TWh), solar thermal (5 TWh) and bioliquids (4 TWh) 
played minor roles in the RES-E mix.  

The installed RES-E generation capacity observed in 2021 corresponds to the results shown for RES-E 
production above. In 2021, the technology with the highest installed capacity was wind onshore with 
173 GW with an increase from 2020 to 2021 of 11 GW added. Solar PV capacity increased from 136 
GW  to  162  GW  and  now  has  the  second  largest  generation  capacity.  Hydro  had  the  third  largest 
generation  capacity  (152  GW),  the  total  installed  capacity  has  remained  largely  unaltered.  Wind 
offshore increased from 14.5 GW in 2020 to 15.1 GW in 2021. Biomass (16 GW), Biogas (11.3 GW), 
Bioliquids (1.2 GW) and Geothermal (0.9 GW) had a relatively smaller share of the RES-E generation 
capacity in 2021. 

In  the  RES-E  sector,  Austria  had  the  highest  RES-E  share  in  2021 with  76.2%,  followed  by  Sweden 
(75.7%)  and  Denmark  (62.7%).  Five  Member  States  remained  under  15%  in  2021:  Malta  (9.7%%), 
Hungary (13.2%), Luxembourg (14.2%), Czechia (14.5%) and Cyprus (14.8%). 

Figure 5: RES-E share per Member State in 2021 

Source: Eurostat SHARES 

Eighteen Member States reported on the assessment of the support for electricity from renewable 
sources.  Six  Member  States  (DE,  ES,  HU,  IT,  NL,  SI)  finished  the  assessment,  four  (AT,  BE,  CY,  IE) 

15 

 
 
 
reported the assessment was ongoing, and for the remaining eight the assessment has not yet been 
done.  Of  the  six  Member  States  that  finished  their  assessment,  five  included  information  on  the 
effectiveness of the schemes but provided limited or unclear information on the distributive effects. 
The support schemes investigated vary a lot, including tariff incentives, fiscal incentives, investment 
supports, grant schemes and tenders to complete scheme for renewable energy production including 
renewable electricity. 

2.1.3.3 RES-Heating & Cooling 

Between 2020 and 2021, the share of renewables in this sector stagnated at approximately 23 %. The 
consumption of renewable energies  in the RES-H&C sector has increased gradually between 2010-
2020.19 In 2021, RES-H&C consumption at EU-level reached 110 Mtoe. 

Solid biomass was and remains the largest renewable energy contributor to the sector with 88 845 
ktoe  (including  renewable  municipal  waste).  However,  energy  consumption  from  heat  pumps 
increased sharply and stood at 14 682 ktoe, biogas at 3 945 ktoe, solar thermal heating at 2 518 ktoe, 
bioliquids at 684 ktoe20 and geothermal heating at 912 ktoe. 

The European Union-wide heat pump market data for 2021 confirm its increased deployment in the 
heating and cooling segment, with a 34% year-on-year growth. This was spurred partially by policies 
in several countries favourable to electrifying heating needs (e.g., France, Finland, Sweden) and the 
increase in summer cooling needs for the area of reversible heat pumps in cooling mode. The upwards 
trend for heat pumps accelerated in 2022 (see 2.1.3.1.) Other sectors have boosted the increase in 
total renewable heat consumption – biogas, renewable municipal waste, solar energy and bioliquids. 
Between 2020 and 2021, the distribution between the various renewable heat sectors worked to the 
benefit of heat pumps (from 12.7 to 13.1%) and to a lesser extent for solid biofuel (from 75,3 to 75,5%). 
The share decreased for biogas from 3.9 to 3.5%, for renewable municipal waste from 3.8 to 3.7%, 
and  for  solar  from  2.4  to  2.2%.  The  share  of  geothermal  energy  remained  at  0.8%  and  bioliquids 
remained at 1.1%.  

In the Heating and Cooling sector, Sweden (68.6%) had the highest share of renewable energy in 2021, 
followed  by  Estonia  (61.3%),  Latvia  (57.4%)  and  Finland  (52.6%).  In  contrast,  Ireland  (6.3%),  the 
Netherlands  (8.1%)  and  Belgium  (8.4%)  had  the  lowest  renewable  energy  share  in  Heating  and 
Cooling. Bulgaria (from 37.2 to 25.6 percentage points) and Denmark (51.1 to 41.5) both saw their 
shares strongly reduced, linked mainly to bioenergy accounting, while Malta showed a strong increase 
by more than 8 percentage points (23.0 to 32.4 percentage points), which is strongly linked to changes 
in the possibility to account cooling towards the RES share. 

19 Since the Delegated Act establishing the methodology to calculated renewable cooling was adopted on 14 December 2021, 
the renewable heating and cooling shares for 2020 do not yet include contribution from renewable cooling. 
20 Compliant bioliquids only 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 6: RES-HC share per Member State in 2021 

Source: Eurostat SHARES 

Renewable energy in buildings  

On the newly  introduced reporting  categories  of  renewable  energy consumed in and produced by 
buildings, only limited information from Member States was received which was in addition not easily 
comparable.  

Most  of  the  Member  States  reported  information  regarding  final  energy  consumption  from 
renewables in buildings for heating purposes. The most reported fuel/technology is (in descending 
order  for  2021):  biomass  (21  countries),  heat  pumps  (19),  solar  thermal  systems  (17),  geothermal 
systems (12) and other decentralised renewable sources (8). 

Renewable heat produced and fed into the grid was also reported frequently, the most for biomass 
(12 countries in 2021), followed by other decentralised renewable sources (8), geothermal systems 
(7), heat pumps (5) and solar thermal systems (4). 

Renewable  electricity  production  in  buildings  was  reported  the  most  for  solar  PV  systems  (15 
countries in 2021), and to a lesser extent for other decentralised renewable sources (4) and biomass 
(4).  

17 

 
 
 
 
 
2.1.3.4 RES-Transport 
The transport sector remained in 2021, with a share of 9.1% (down from 10.25% in 2020), the sector 
with  the  lowest  penetration  of  renewables.  Overall,  progress  in  the  consumption  of  renewable 
energies in the RES-T sector has been slow compared especially with the power sector over the last 
decade. The decline of the renewables share in 2021 compared to 2020 can be attributed to a large 
extent to the overall increase of mobility.  Biofuels remain with 17  Mtoe  (compared to 16 Mtoe  in 
2020) the largest source or renewable energy. The share of Annex IX biofuels continues to increase 
and represents around 5.5 Mtoe. However, biofuels based on food and feed crops continue to have 
the highest share (10 Mtoe). The use of renewable electricity for transport was, at approx. 1.645 Mtoe, 
slightly lower than in 2020 (1.68 Mtoe). 

The highest share of renewable energy in the transport sectors in 2021 can be observed in Sweden, 
where  the  RES-T  share  stood  at  30.4%,  followed  by Finland  with 20.7  %.  Only six  further Member 
States surpassed 10% in their RES-T share: Estonia (11.2%), Malta and Slovenia (both 10.6%), Denmark 
(10.5%), Belgium (10.3%) and Italy (10%). Four Member States were lower than 7%: Poland (5.7%), 
Hungary (6.2%), Latvia (6.4%) and Lithuania (6.5%). 

Figure 7: RES-T share per Member State in 2021 

Source: Eurostat SHARES 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
2.1.3.5 Other trajectories  
Indigenous production of biomass for energy use 

26  Member  States21  have  reported  their  data  on  biomass  supply  (Figure  8).  Their  indigenous 
production  can  be  seen  in  the  Figure  9  below.  According  to  the  reported  data,  Germany  has  a 
significant production of organic waste biomass (137,675 thousand m3). It also produces the largest 
share of forest biomass (66,658 thousand m3) in the EU, followed by Sweden (65,102 thousand m3). 
Spain has the highest volumes of agricultural biomass (20,844 thousand m3). 

Figure 8: Primary supply of solid biomass in 1000 m3 for energy production, indigenous production in 2021 

Source: EUROSTAT, Supply of biomass, annual data 

In 2020, according to the reported data, Germany was the largest producer of biogas, with 52.8 % of 
the  total  amount  produced  (7,765  ktoe),  followed  by  Italy  that  accounted  for  13.7%  (2,018  ktoe), 
France 7.4% (1,090 ktoe) Czechia (4.1%, 595 ktoe), and Denmark (3.4%, 505 ktoe). In 2021, Germany 
remained the largest producer, accounting for 50,4% of the total production (7,518 ktoe), followed by 
Italy (13.9%, 2,078 ktoe), France 9.4% (1,404 ktoe) and Denmark (4.2%, 625 ktoe), which overtook 
Czechia (4.0%, 591 ktoe) in biogas production. 

21 All Member States except Hungary reported data on biomass supply: 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/NRG_CB_BM/default/table?lang=en&category=nrg.nrg_quant.nrg_quanta.nr
g_cb. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 9: Indigenous biogas production in 2020 (left bar) and 2021 (right bar) per Member State. 

Source: NECPRs 

When it comes to liquid biofuels, Germany reported the biggest production capacity in both 2021 
and 2022 (10,058 and 10,180 kton, respectively), followed by Spain (4,701 kton for both years) and 
France with a capacity of 4,000 kton for both years. 

Figure 10: Liquid biofuel production capacities in 2020 (left bar) and 2021 (right bar) per Member State. 

Source: Eurostat table NRG_INF_LBPC 

21 Member States reported in the NECPRs regarding the evolution of bioenergy supply and whether 
that has an impact on the overall and sectoral trajectories for renewable energy from 2021 to 2030. 8 
Member  States22  stated  that  there  were  no  significant  impacts  or  updates  to  be  reported.  Of  the 
remaining  13  Member  States,  Hungary  and  Latvia  stressed  the  impacts  related  to  Russia’s  war  of 
aggression against Ukraine. Sweden emphasized that prices have risen because of the energy crisis. 
Some Member States (Estonia, Slovakia) reported that changes in legislation impact biomass use for 
energy production. Others (Italy, Slovenia) reported an expected increase in the use of biomass for 
energy production, in the years leading up to 2030.  

Energy from Waste-to-energy plants can be accounted towards the renewable energy shares, but only 
as  regards  the  biodegradable  part  of  the  waste.  There  are  very  few  Member  States  which  do  not 

22 AT, BG, CY, CZ, DK, EL, FI, and PT. 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
operate such plants. Exceptions are Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta and Romania. For those reporting values, 
the share of biodegradable waste used (which is determining the  renewables’ share of the energy 
produced)  is  usually  around  50%,  Denmark  (85%),  Hungary  (8%)  and  Austria  (20%)  being  notable 
exceptions. 

21 Member States reported in the NECPRs regarding the evolution of bioenergy supply and whether 
that has an impact on the overall and sectoral trajectories for renewable energy from 2021 to 2030. 8 
Member  States23  stated  that  there  were  no  significant  impacts  or  updates  to  be  reported.  Of  the 
remaining  13  Member  States,  Hungary  and  Latvia  stressed  the  impacts  related  to  Russia’s  war  of 
aggression against Ukraine. Sweden emphasized that prices have risen because of the energy crisis. 
Some Member States (Estonia, Slovakia) reported that changes in legislation impact biomass use for 
energy production. Others (Italy, Slovenia) reported an expected increase in the use of biomass for 
energy production, in the years leading up to 2030.  

2.1.3.6 Cross-border collaboration and the use of cooperation mechanisms 
Cooperation  mechanisms  are  based  on  Articles  8-13  of  RED  II.  They  include  several  mechanisms 
through which Member States can cooperate on renewable energy such as statistical transfers, joint 
projects, or joint support schemes. A participation in the EU renewable energy financing mechanism 
is also an option for Member States to cooperate. Out of these mechanisms, Member States made 
most  use  of  statistical  transfers.  Statistical  transfers  are  particularly  relevant  to  facilitate  target 
achievement since they enable Member States that have reached a higher renewable energy share 
than their national target or trajectory to transfer their surplus to another Member State, based on a 
bilateral agreement. Currently 6 agreements for statistical transfers were made for the year 2021 
while 14 agreements were made for the year 2020.  

Statistical transfers reported by countries for reference year 2021 (thousands of tonnes of oil 
equivalent, ktoe) 

Table 4: Statistical Transfers 2021 

Amount 
deduced 
from the 
share of 
renewables 

Denmark 
Finland  
Czechia 
Estonia 

Amount added to the share of renewables 
Belgium 
198.1 
11.4 
0 
0 

Germany  
4.3 
0 
0 
0 

Slovenia 
0 
0 
17.9 
0 

Luxembourg  Malta 
68.8 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 
5.2 

The other cooperation mechanisms remained largely unused, whereby the already established joint 
support  schemes  between  Germany  and  Denmark  and  Sweden  and  Norway  continued  to  deliver 
results24. Nevertheless, the cross-border collaboration in the form of joint projects has improved and 
been incentivized following the implementation of the new instruments that are set up at EU level, 
notably  the  Renewable  Energy  Financing  Mechanism25  and  the  renewable  energy  window  of  the 
Connecting Europe Facility26. An example of this are the first three projects with a status of renewable 

23 AT, BG, CY, CZ, DK, EL, FI, and PT. 
24 For 2020, the joint support schemes resulted in statistical transfers of 50.84 GWh from Denmark to Germany and of 2644 
GWh from Sweden to Norway. 
25 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/financing/eu-renewable-energy-financing-mechanism_en.  
26 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/financing/financing-cross-border-cooperation_en.  

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
energy cross-border project27, as well as the first cross-border tender for renewable energy projects 
between Luxembourg and Finland, carried out by the Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism.28  

2.1.3.7 Guarantees of origin 

Figure 11: Guarantees of origin issued and cancelled (number) in 2021 – electricity 

This reporting cycle is the first one where Member States are required to provide quantitative data on 
the implementation of Guarantees of origin scheme in Article 19 of the renewable energy Directive. 
Guarantees of origin (GOs) are used by suppliers to disclose the share of renewable energy to the final 
consumers. They are furthermore an essential component of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) 
which  corporates  use  for  investing  in  renewables  and  ensure  competitive  pricing  of  their  energy 
supply. The number of GOs that can be issued in each Member State depends on the production of 
renewable energy, for the relevant carrier (electricity, gas, heating & cooling). Each GO represent 1 
MWh. The number  of GOs issued  thus  reflect the  production of energy, while the number of GOs 
cancelled indicate the volume that is used by suppliers to disclose towards their consumers or used 
by corporates in PPA.  However, some Member states do not to issue  GOs to installations that are 
supported, and therefore there is not a direct correlation between the RES production and the actual 
number of GOs issued. 

Italy, France and Spain are among the Member States that due to their size issue the highest number 
of GOs for electricity, but Sweden also comes into that group, mainly due to its large production of 
electricity  from  hydropower.  It  is  furthermore  notable  from  figure  11  that  BE, DE  and  NL  cancel  a 
significantly higher number of GOs than they issue. This indicates a net import of GO certificates to 
these Member states. Only 5 MS currently report the use of GOs for gas, with DK and NL being the 
largest users. Only 3 MS report the use of GOs for heating & cooling. 

27 https://commission.europa.eu/news/commission-adopts-first-list-renewable-energy-cross-border-projects-2022-08-30_en  
28 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/renewable-energy-financing-mechanism-sees-first-tender-established-2023-04-14_en 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy efficiency  

2.2 
Energy efficiency helps reduce overall energy consumption and is therefore central to achieving the 
EU’s  climate  ambition,  while  enhancing  present  and  future  energy  security  and  affordability.  The 
Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU (EED), as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/2002 and Directive 
(EU) 2018/844, forms a key part of the European Union (EU) climate and energy legislation, setting 
the EU’s energy efficiency targets and laying the foundation for measures to realise the full energy 
efficiency potential of the EU economy. In 2023, Directive (EU) 2023/1791 has been adopted, recasting 
the previous EED (hereinafter, “EED recast”). However, for the purposes of the present report, which 
covers the year 2021, the new provisions of the EED recast are not considered. 

The  EED  requires  all  EU  Member  States  to  implement  measures  to  improve  energy  efficiency 
throughout  the  different  stages  of  the  energy  chain,  from  production  to  final consumption.  These 
efforts  are  key  to  achieve  the  EU’s  energy  efficiency  targets  and  an  essential  contribution  to  the 
decarbonisation of the EU economy by 2050.  

2.2.1 Progress towards indicative trajectory and 2030 savings contribution  

In the period from 2005 to 2021, the EU energy consumption has followed a general downward trend, 
as depicted in Figure 12. In 2020, the EU met the target values set in the Energy Efficiency Directive 
(EED – Directive 2012/27/EU) for 2020 in terms of primary energy consumption (PEC) and final energy 
consumption (FEC), but the values registered are significantly influenced by the impact of the COVID-
19 crisis and the  lockdown measures imposed by national authorities  to confront  the crisis, which 
restricted importantly the overall activities and consequently reduced the energy demand. In 2021, 
PEC in the EU at 1311 Mtoe remained lower than in 2019, but was around 6% higher than in 2020, 
most probably affected by the COVID-19 crisis recovery.29 This trend could indicate, if continued in the 
coming years, the structural improvements that took place in the two-year period. However, PEC and 
FEC values are still far away from the 2030 PEC and FEC targets30.  

29 Paci D., Tsemekidi-Tzeiranaki, S., Clementi, E. L. (2023), Assessment of the 2023 NECP Reports: Monitoring Member 
States’  progress  in  their  energy  and  climate  plans  –  Summary  Report,  JRC  Technical  Report,  Publications  Office  of  the 
European Union, Luxembourg, 2023 (under publication). 
30 As set out in Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on energy 
efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 (recast) 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 12: Final and primary energy consumption trends of the EU2731 

Note: PEC and FEC 2030 Targets according to EED Recast 2023  

Source: JRC elaboration on Eurostat data, 2023. 

Figure  13  presents  a  breakdown  of  the  additive  decomposition  results  in  the  period  2020-2021, 
showing  the  impact  of  the  economic  effects  and  further  disaggregating  the  primary  energy 
consumption into the effects of the final energy intensity and the efficiencies of the distribution and 
transformation. The economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis was a determinant  factor for the 
energy  consumption  increases  in  all  Member  States.  Improvements  in  the  final  energy  intensity32 
contributed  to  reduce  energy  consumption  in  13  Member  States.  While  efficiency  in  distribution 
improved, efficiency in the transformation sector worsened across the EU. 

31 Rhe lines represent the historical trajectory between 2005 consumption and the 2021 consumption, and the doted lines 
represent the targets to be reached in 2030 for PEC and FEC targets as set out in the EED recast. 
32 Two intensity indicators are often used as energy efficiency indicator for a country. They are presented as a ratio between 
energy consumption and activity data. In this case, final energy intensity is built as the ratio between final energy consumption 
and gross domestic product (GDP) of EU27. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 13: Contribution of different effects on the variation of the PEC in EU27 and Members States over the 
period 2020-2021. 

Source: JRC elaboration on Eurostat data 

The reasons indicated for growing or stable consumptions (sorted from high to low recurrences) over 
the period 2020-2021 are summarised in Table 5. 

Table  5:  Main  reasons  provided  by  Member  States  to  justify  growing  or  stable  final  energy  consumptions 
(2020-2021) 

Sector 

Reasons 

Industry 

Economic growth. 

Increase of value added. 

Increase of employment 

Residential 

Worsening of winter/summer conditions. 

Increase of disposable income of households. 

Services 

Economic growth. 

Worsening of winter conditions. 

Increase of value added. 

Increase of employment. 

Transport 

Increase of transport goods/passengers. 

Economic growth. 

Increase of value added. 

Source: JRC elaboration on NECPR data  

Trends in consumption 

Final energy consumption in the EU in 2021 was 968 Mtoe and increased by 6,9% compared to 2020, 
although  remaining  lower  than  in  2019.  In  2020,  FEC  reached  its  lowest  value  since  2005  and 
decreased by 8.0% compared to 2019, principally because of COVID-19 pandemics, which restricted 
the end-use activities and consequently the energy demand. The absolute final energy consumption33 
in 2021 has declined in 18 Member States since 2005, while in 8 Member States it had an increase, in 

33 Indicator ‘Final energy consumption (Europe 2020-2030)’ in the Eurostat dataset ‘Simplified energy balances’ (nrg_bal_s). 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
three  cases  (Lithuania,  Malta  and  Poland)  higher  than  20%.  In  2021,  all  Member  States  have 
experienced increases in total final energy consumption compared to 2020.  

The sector with the most significant FEC increasing trend from 2020 to 2021 is the transport sector, 
with a 9,3% increase at the EU level. All the Member States (except Lithuania) reported increases in 
FEC in the transport sector from 2020 to 2021. The largest increases were noted in Italy (+21,8%), 
Spain (+16,5%) and Slovenia (+13,7%).  

Energy consumption in the services sector experienced the second largest increase after the transport 
sector, with an annual increase at the EU level of 6.7% in 2021 compared to 2020. The most significant 
growth rates are observed in Slovakia (+27,1%), Bulgaria (+21,0), followed by Luxembourg (+12,4%). 
In Czechia, Greece and Slovenia, services consumption remained almost stable. 

The  industrial  and  residential  sectors  have  registered  increases  in  FEC  levels  by  4,1%  and  5,5% 
respectively at the EU level. At Member State level, six countries did not report an increase of FEC in 
the residential sector, while three countries did not report an increase of FEC in the industrial sector. 
The  largest  increases  were  observed  in  Lithuania  (+13,7%),  Finland  (+12,8%)  and  the  Netherlands 
(+11,4%) for the residential sector, and in Lithuania (+8,3%), Slovakia (+7,8%) and Malta (+7,6%) for 
the industrial sector. 

Contribution of different effects to the variation of residential FEC in 2020-2021  

For the residential sector, the exceptional situation of the pandemic crisis observed in 2020 led to a 
stable FEC compared to 2019, contrary to other main economic sectors which experienced decreases. 
This is probably due to increased teleworking activities, to home schooling and to the more time spent 
at home caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, FEC in the residential sector increased by 5,5% 
compared  to 2020.  The  combined  impact  of  weather  and wealth34  led  to a  substantial  increase  of 
energy  consumption,  thereby  offsetting  the  overall  intensity  improvements,  at  the  EU  level  in  the 
residential sector.  

While trends vary from country to country, the Member States’ results also suggest that weather and 
wealth effects  were  two  important  factors  in  growing  the  energy  consumption  in  many  countries. 
Warmer winter conditions in 2021 with respect to 2020 exerted a limiting force on consumption only 
for Ireland and Cyprus. Besides Greece, Slovakia, and Poland the wealth effects linked to growth of 
per capita floor area and disposable income exerted a rise in FEC in the remaining 24 Member States. 
Intensity35 drops contributing to abate the energy consumption in almost all Member States, with the 
exceptions of Greece, Malta, Austria, Slovakia and Finland.  

34 Total floor area (TFA)/population or gross domestic income (GDI)/population. It reflects changes in energy consumption 
due to changes in the wealth represented by the total floor area of dwellings (TFA) per capita for the heating end use and gross 
disposable income in purchasing power standard (GDI) per capita for all other end uses. 
35 The intensity effect is calculated as the ratio between final energy consumption and total floor area (TFA)/gross disposable 
income (GDI) of the residential sector. 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 14: Contribution of different effects on the variation of the residential FEC over the period 2020-2021. 

Source : Eurostat, JRC, Odyssee-Mure, 2023 

Contribution of different effects to the variation of the productive sectors FEC in 2020-2021  

Figure  14  provides  a  breakdown  of  the  additive  decomposition  results  in  the  productive  sectors 
(industry, services and agriculture) in the Member States in the period 2020-2021. At the EU level, the 
activity effect drives the increase of final energy consumption. However, breaking down this effect 
into labour productivity (GVA/hours worked) and employment effect (hours worked), it is observed 
that  only  the  latter  effect  is  responsible  for  the  energy  consumption  increase  in  2021.  Also,  the 
intensity effect highlights an increase in final energy consumption, while the minor structural effect 
contributes to reducing consumption at EU level. 

As already observed at EU level, the employment effect represents the most important driving factor 
in  increasing  various  Member  States’  energy  consumption,  except  for  Latvia.  These  results  can  be 
explained bearing in mind the exceptional circumstances that each Member State faced in managing 
the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in 2020. The labour productivity effect raises FEC for most of the Member 
States,  except  for  Belgium,  Greece,  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Austria  and  Sweden.  The 
structural effect results highlight a shift from sub-sectors of higher energy intensity towards those of 
lower intensity in some Member States, except for Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, 
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia. Finally, the intensity effect played an inhibiting 
role  on  the  energy  consumption  for  15  countries  (Estonia,  Ireland,  Greece,  Croatia,  Italy,  Cyprus, 
Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden). In contrast, 
the others have experienced an increase in the final energy consumption per value added in monetary 
terms. 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 15: Contribution of different effects on the variation of the FEC of productive sectors over the period 
2020-2021. 

Source: Eurostat, JRC, 2023. 

2.2.2 Exemplary role of public bodies’ buildings – Article 5 of the EED  
The  public  sector  plays  an  important  exemplary  role  in  enhancing  energy  efficiency  practices. 
Therefore, Article 5(1) of the EED requires Member States to ensure yearly renovations, as from 1 
January 2014, of 3% of the total floor area of heated and/or cooled buildings owned and occupied by 
their central government and not in compliance with minimum energy requirements. Alternatively, 
Member States may opt for an alternative approach (under Article 5(6) of the EED) and achieve energy 
savings that are equivalent to or greater than those that Article 5(1) requires for the same building 
stock.  Tables  6  and  7  provide  a  summary  of  the  progress  made  by  the  Member  States  in  2021  in 
connection  with  Article  5(1),  for  the  default  and  the  alternative  approach,  respectively.  2021 
represents the starting year of the new obligation period 2021-2030, thereby making it premature to 
derive definite trends. 

Compared to the Annual Reports submitted in 2022, there is a lack of information on these issues in 
the reports submitted in 2023.  

As shown in Table 6, none of the 12 Member States that have chosen the default approach achieved 
its annual target in terms of renovated floor area in 2021. Moreover, four Member States (Hungary, 
Romania, Latvia and Portugal) provided either no or incomplete information for Article 5. Therefore, 
Member States will have to step up their efforts as early as possible in the next years of the obligation 
period to be able to meet the savings requirement for the whole obligation period ending in 2030. 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 6: Implementation status of Article 5 of Member States, which have chosen the default approach (Article 
5(1)), based on the assessment reports of Member States.36   

Source: JRC elaboration on NECPR data 

36 The column “Annual obligation achieved in 2021 in terms of floor area [%]” displays the actual obligation achievement 
for the year 2021 (if available), which is expressed as the ratio of renovated floor area in 2021 to the respective annual 
renovation obligation for countries opting for the default approach (Article 5(1)). The colour-code system was used to depict 
the level of obligation achievement: green circles would indicate countries which fully reached or exceeded their obligation 
in 2021, while the yellow and red circles show countries which fell short of their 2021 obligation by up to 0-50% and 50-
99%, respectively. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 7: Implementation status of Article 5 of Member States which have chosen the alternative approach, 
based on the assessment reports of Member States.37 

Source: JRC elaboration on NECPR data  

Looking  at  Table  7,  all  Member  States  that  have  chosen  the  alternative  approach,  except  for  the 
Netherlands, reported the value (in m2) of the central government buildings not meeting the energy 
performance  requirements  (for  both  years  2021  and  2022).  On  the  contrary  there  are  some 
discrepancies on the energy savings reported by Member States. Some of them have reported both 
primary  and  final  energy  savings  (Belgium,  Cyprus,  France,  Croatia  and  Malta),  while  Ireland  and 
Poland only primary savings. Austria, Czechia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia have 
counted their savings in terms of final energy. Germany and Denmark did not report any savings.  

Finally, regardless of the chosen approach, five Member States notified a larger non-compliant total 
floor area in 2022 with respect to the previous year (2021): i.e. Bulgaria (+0.2%), Portugal (+89.1%), 
Slovenia (+0.9%), Sweden (+2.7%) and Slovakia (+9.3%). 

2.2.3 Energy savings obligation – Article 7 of the EED 
Article 7 EED requires Member  States to achieve  an annual amount of cumulative end-use  energy 
savings for the entire obligation period that currently runs from 2021 up to 2030. The obligation could 
be met by new policy measures that are adopted during the obligation period from 1 January 2021 to 
31  December  2030  or  by  new  individual  actions  adopted  during  or  before  the  previous  period, 
provided that the individual actions that trigger energy savings are introduced during  the following 
period. To that end, Member States should be able to make use of an energy efficiency obligation 
scheme, alternative policy measures, or both.  

37 Since no Member State reported information about the article 5 savings, it is not possible to calculate the ratio of achieved 
annual  energy  savings  in  2021  compared  to  the  annual  energy  saving  obligation  for  countries  opting  for  the  alternative 
approach (Article 5(6)). 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The 2023 National Energy and Climate Progress Reports (NECPRs) are the first reporting iteration for 
the obligation period 2021-2030. Table 8 below shows the data reported by the Member States about 
the  new  energy  savings  achieved  in  2021  under  Article  7  EED  (in  ktoe),  comparing  it  with  two 
benchmarks:  their trend of new annual savings averaged over 2018-2020, and the equivalent new 
annual savings needed in 2021. 

Table 8: New annual savings (in ktoe/year) reported for 2021 by the Member States under Article 7 EED and 
benchmarks 

New annual 
savings 
reported for 
2021 
(ktoe/year) 
116.53 

Equivalent new 
annual savings 
for a rate of 
0.8%/year38 
(ktoe/year) 
215.96 

275.61 

23.64 

83.32 

54.40 

119.90 

63.67 

65.59 

462.90 

2072.00 

3691.35 

34.55 

45.33 

65.69 

1128.00 

45.77 

177.47 

20.00 

1.93 

751.53 

 552.02 

104.97 

106.02 

51.94 

270.16 

289.22 

79.24 

23.45 

4.42 

200.64 

116.62 

22.93 

164.15 

1185.07 

1735.64 

132.71 

143.84 

94.18 

926.85 

32.00 

42.65 

33.51 

1.49 

401.69 

 557.00 

122.55 

74.85 

39.44 

669.25 

Achieved in 
2021 vs. 
0.8%/year (%) 

2018-2020 
average of new 
annual savings 
(ktoe/year) 

Achieved in 
2021 vs. 2018-
2020 average 
(%) 

54.0% 

95.3% 

29.8% 

355.2% 

1231.3% 

59.8% 

54.6% 

286.1% 

282.0% 

174.8% 

212.7% 

26.0% 

31.5% 

69.7% 

121.7% 

143.0% 

416.1% 

59.7% 

129.5% 

187.1% 

99.1%  

85.7% 

141.6% 

131.7% 

40.4% 

747.82 

259.64 

35.91 

27.01 

76.17 

186.38 

165.20 

121.91 

515.88 

1955.86 

2869.43 

252.09 

131.07 

90.73 

926.20 

122.13 

100.75 

14.38 

5.51 

642.73 

 276.53 

143.58 

80.64 

45.94 

547.79 

15.6% 

106.1% 

65.8% 

308.5% 

71.4% 

64.3% 

38.5% 

53.8% 

89.7% 

105.9% 

128.6% 

13.7% 

34.6% 

72.4% 

121.8% 

37.5% 

176.2% 

139.1% 

35.0% 

116.9% 

 199.6% 

73.1% 

131.5% 

113.0% 

49.3% 

10384.29 

7309.35 

142.1% 

10341.28 

100.4% 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania* 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden* 

Total** 

* data of energy savings achieved in 2021 not yet available at time of assessment 

38 0.24% for Cyprus and Malta; calculated for all Member States based on the target they reported in their National Energy 
and Climate Plans (NECPs) in 2019, with two simplifying assumptions: (1) savings would have a lifetime of at least 10 years; 
(2) the same rate of savings would be achieved each year from 2021 to 2030. 

31 

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
** sum for 25 Member States 

Source: data reported by the Member  States in their NECPR 2023 (first column), their first National Energy 
and Climate Plan in 2019 (second column) and in previous reporting to the Energy Efficiency Directive (fourth 
column). 

By 7 September 2023, 25 Member States39 had reported energy savings data for 2021. These reported 
new annual energy savings amount to 10384 ktoe/year. The equivalent amount of new annual savings 
corresponding to the target of 0.8%/year40 is 7309 ktoe/year for these 25 Member States altogether. 
Reported savings are thus 42.1% higher than needed savings.41  

The average of new annual energy savings in 2018-2020 for the same 25 Member States was 10341 
ktoe/year. The energy savings reported for 2021 are therefore about the same as the trend in the 
years  2018-2020 (for  these  25  Member  States).  However,  the  EED  recast  has  revised  the  required 
equivalent rates of new annual savings, with a progressive increase.42 

Due to the cumulative nature of the energy savings obligation, the results achieved in the first years 
of a period are essential for the likelihood of achievement of the target. A higher rate of savings than 
needed does not mean that a Member State will achieve its target. However, a significantly lower rate 
of savings in the first years of a period can be very difficult to compensate in the remaining years of 
the period. 

Figure  16  below  provides  information  on  the  distribution  per  main  type  of  policy  instrument  for 
reported energy savings in 2021 (left) and numbers of reported policy measures (right). Energy or CO2 
taxes and Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes (EEOS) represent half of the reported savings (26% 
and  24%  respectively),  while  they  represent  only  9%  of  the  number  of  measures  (5%  and  4% 
respectively). Financing schemes and instruments represent half of the number of measures, while 
they represent 19% of the reported savings. 

39 At that time, the data submitted by Romania and Sweden did not include data about energy savings achieved in 2021. 
40 This rate is 0.24%/year for Cyprus and Malta. The amount of needed new annual savings has been calculated here based on 
the amount reported by the Member States in their National Energy and Climate Plans due by 31 December 2019. 
41 This figure should be taken with caution, as needed savings were calculated with two simplifying assumptions: (1) savings 
would have a lifetime of at least 10 years; (2) the same rate of savings would be achieved each year from 2021 to 2030. In 
practice,  needed  savings  may  be  higher,  for  example  in  those  instances  where  reported  savings  have  a  short  lifetime  (e.g. 
energy and CO2 taxes). 
42 0.8%/year in 2021-2023, 1.3% in 2024-2025, 1.5% in 2026-2027 and 1.9% from 2028 onward. Except for Cyprus and Malta 
(0.24% in 2021-2023 and 0.45% in 2024-2030). 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 16: Share of new annual energy savings achieved by type of policy measure (left) and distribution of 
the number of reported ‘main’ policy measures per type of policy measure (right) at EU-level (data  for 24 
Member States) 

Source: DG ENER’s own calculations based on the data submitted by the Member States in their NECPR 2023 
about the policy measures reported to Article 7(1) for the period 2021-2030 and related new annual energy 
savings for 2021 (data available for 24 Member States). 

It should be noted that Member States may report energy savings per group of policy measures43. 
Moreover, 2021 is the first year of the current obligation period 2021-2030. The distribution of energy 
savings per policy instrument then gives a higher weight to policy measures with short lifetime (e.g. 
energy and CO2 taxes), compared to what they will represent in cumulative terms over 10 years44.  

Figure 17 below provides the same type of distribution per type of end-use sector targeted by the 
policy measure. In case a policy measure covers several sectors, it is included in the “cross-cutting” 
category.  The  largest  share  of  energy  savings  reported  by Member  States  results  from such  cross-
cutting measures (74%), while they represent 34% of the number of policy measures. Cross-cutting 
measures have indeed a larger scope than measures targeting a given sector.45  

43 In case of energy savings reported per group of policy measures, the data does not include the distribution of energy savings 
among the policy measures included in this group. To build the figure, the energy savings of a group of measures were allocated 
to the ‘main’ measure in this group (i.e. the first one listed in the reported data). 
44 Energy savings from energy and CO2 taxes have an equivalent lifetime of 1 year. So, 1 ktoe in 2021 from an energy tax will 
make 1*1 = 1 ktoe of cumulative savings over 2021-2030. On the contrary, energy savings from renovation programmes have 
a lifetime of more than 10 years. 1 ktoe in 2021 from a renovation program will make 1*10 = 10 ktoe of cumulative savings 
over 2021-2030. 
45 This is one of the reasons why they represent the largest share of savings (as in the period 2014-2020). The low share of 
savings in the residential sector can be partly explained because policy measures targeting buildings are considered cross-
cutting (residential and services). 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 17: Share of reported cumulative energy savings by sector at EU-level (data for 24 Member States) 

Source: DG ENER’s own calculations based on the data submitted by the Member States in their NECPR 2023 
about the policy measures reported to Article 7(1) for the period 2021-2030 and related new annual energy 
savings for 2021 (data available for 24 Member States). 

By  7  September  2023,  26  Member  States46  have  reported  in  their  NECPRs  a  total  of  224  policy 
measures (or groups of measures) to Article 7 EED with energy savings data. Member States with the 
highest number of reported measures are Slovakia (41), Belgium and Germany (25 each), and Cyprus 
(21). At the opposite, two Member States have reported a single policy measure with energy savings 
in  2021:  France  (white  certificates  scheme)  and  Luxembourg  (EEOS).47  175  of  the  334  single 
measures48 are new compared to the policy measures previously reported in the 2014-2020 period. 
13 Member States are currently implementing an EEOS. Moreover, Spain’s EEOS includes from 2023 
a white certificates scheme, adding to the three other white certificates schemes in the EU (France, 
Italy and Poland). 

20  Member  States  mentioned  that  at  least  one  of  their  policy  measures  or  group  of  measures  is 
contributing to energy poverty alleviation (with a total of 42 policy measures or group of measures).49 
However, only 12 Member States reported an amount of energy savings related to energy poverty 
alleviation (for a total of 14 policy measures or group of measures).  

•  Energy Audit Obligation – Article 8 of the EED 

To optimise energy savings in the industrial sector, Article 8 of the EED requires companies that are 
not small or medium enterprises to carry out an energy audit or to implement an energy management 
system at least once every four years. In their NECPRs, Member States were required to state the total 
estimated number of large companies in their territory to which Article 8(4) of the EED is applicable 
and the number of energy audits carried out in those enterprises. The overview for 2020 and 2021 is 
shown in Figure 18 below. 

For 2021, only Austria and Romania did not report information on the number of large companies. 
While only Austria did not report the energy audits carried out in those companies. On the contrary, 

46 Romania did not report information about Article 7 EED in its NECPR. Sweden reported information about its energy and 
CO2 taxes, but without energy savings data. 
47 Sweden reported a single type of measures (energy and CO2 taxes) but did not report data about energy savings in 2021 yet. 
48 This number of measures is higher than the number of measures or group of measures with energy savings data, as this is 
the number of single measures (and some of these single measures are included in a group of measures as regards reported 
energy savings). 
49  Some  of  these  policy  measures  are  fully  dedicated  to  energy  poverty  alleviation.  Others  contribute  to  energy  poverty 
alleviation among other objectives. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
for  2020  much  information  was  missing,  as  only  Belgium,  Estonia,  Ireland,  France,  Croatia,  Italy, 
Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Poland and Sweden had reported both the number of 
large companies and the energy audits carried out (for the latter category also Romania has reported 
its numbers). 

In general, the mismatches observed between the two values in the same year can be explained by 
the fact that energy audits are not required on a yearly basis, but at least every four years. In addition, 
given  the  circumstances  of  the  COVID-19  pandemics,  a  certain  number  of  companies  may  have 
postponed their energy audits. 

Figure 18: Energy audits carried out in large companies in 2021 and 2020. 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.2.4 Progress towards the long-term strategy for renovation 
Article 2a of the EPBD required Member States to submit their Long-Term Renovation Strategy (LTRS) 
by  March  2020.  The  Commission  has  analysed  the  national  strategies  with  a  view  to  sharing  best 
practices between the Member States. The national strategies and the Commission’s assessment were 
a key contribution to the national Recovery and Resilience Plans in which building renovation features 
prominently. 

The great majority of 2020 strategies include a good overview of policies targeting public buildings 
and provide a long-term roadmap towards the 2050 goal of decarbonising the building stock, including 
in most cases specific intermediate milestones for 2030, and to a lesser extent for 2040. The strategies 
generally comply with the requirements of the EPBD, but the Commission’s analysis highlighted that 
not  every LTRS is sufficiently ambitious towards the 2050 decarbonisation goals.  Furthermore, the 
differences in Member States' approaches when setting national milestones made it difficult to assess 
the ambition at EU level50. 

The NECPR includes specific reporting tables for Member States’ milestones and progress indicators 
of the long-term strategy for the renovation of the national stock of residential and non-residential 
buildings. Even if with some important differences in sub-indicators (e.g., residential vs non-residential 
buildings,  entries  in  2020  being  more  complete  than  in  2021)  on  average,  completeness  of  the 
reported data appears to be limited in most of the topics and indicators except for the only mandatory 
field reporting on the contribution of buildings to the Union’s energy efficiency target. More details 
and deeper analyses on Member States reporting on progresses towards the long-term strategy for 
renovation  are  included  in  the  Report  on  renovation  of  the  national  stock  of  residential  and  non-
residential buildings and on nearly zero-energy buildings. 

Building stock 

Member States reported data of the residential, non-residential, and public building stock, in terms of 
number of buildings and/or floor area, with different degrees of completeness: data for residential 
buildings are the most complete one with 20 and 17 Member States reporting data on the number of 
buildings for 2020 and 2021 respectively; on the other hand, 18 countries reported some information 
for non-residential buildings and 14 on public buildings. 

Member States use different approaches to define their worst performing stock, such as energy class, 
age,  energy  consumption,  as  resulted  by  the  analysis  of  the  last  long  term  building  renovation 
strategies. In the NECPR, a total of 6 countries defined worst performance according the primary or 
final energy consumption in kWh/m2, while no information was found in 12 other countries. 

The fields on worst performing buildings have generally a lower completeness in the NECPRs. In the 
case of residential buildings, 9 countries reported on their number of worst performing buildings for 
2020,  only  6  for  2021.  The  heterogeneity  in  their  definition  determines  a  wide  range  of  shares 
representing the worst performing segment of national building stock: according to reported data it 
was in 2020, on average, 43% of the total number of residential buildings, but ranging from 5-6% in 
Finland and Sweden to more than 90% in Cyprus. A similar variability can be detected also in the public 
and non-residential sectors. In some countries, the respective shares are close to what reported for 
residential, in others it is possible to spot important differences. Harmonisation in the definition of 

50 Castellazzi, L., Paci, D., Zangheri, P., Maduta, C., Economidou, M., Ribeiro Serrenho, T., Zancanella, P., Ringel, M., 
Valentova, M. and Tsemekidi Tzeiranaki, S., (2022) Assessment of first long-term renovation strategies under the Energy 
Performance of Building Directive (Art. 2a), EUR 31309 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 
ISBN 978-92-76-58990-7, doi:10.2760/535845, JRC128067 

36 

 
 
 
worst-performing  buildings  is  needed  to  allow  for  equal  distribution  of  renovation  efforts  across 
Member States. 

Data on primary and final energy consumption as well as GHG emissions are also reported, but the 
many missing data prevent to draw general conclusions or to calculate aggregated data at EU level. In 
terms of final energy consumption (FEC, i.e. the most complete dataset, with nearly 60% of Member 
States having reported at  least data on total FEC in the  residential sector in 2020),  the short-term 
evolution from 2020-2021 indicates a general increase (from 3-7% depending on the sector at EU level, 
based on the Member States that reported data), with some exceptions in the residential sector. In 
the worst performing segments of the building stock, a general decrease in FEC is observed. Reported 
data on GHG emissions are scattered and incomplete: in the residential sector, out of the 9 Member 
States that have reported data for 2020 and 2021, data show an overall steady trend of GHG emissions 
between the two years. 

Renovation rates 

Despite the central role of renovation in energy and climate policies and the fact that some Member 
States have set renovation milestones, data on renovation rates in NECPR are highly incomplete, with 
only 7 Member States reporting in this field. Data are also scattered across countries, years, depth of 
renovation (light/medium/deep), building use (residential/non-residential/public), and unit measure 
(building  units/floor  area).  This  makes  it  very  difficult  to  have  a  complete  synthetic  overview,  to 
perform  comparisons  and  to  draw  general  conclusions  at  EU  level.  The  only  data  reported  on 
renovation rates are from 4 Member States (Ireland, Hungary, Lithuania, and Luxemburg), whereas 
other  Member  States  provided  additional  data  on  renovations  in  the  milestones  indicators  (for 
example,  Italy,  as  progress  toward  its  targets,  Italy  indicated  a  deep-equivalent  renovation  rate of 
2.4% and 3.1% for 2020 and 2021, respectively).  

The  Commission’s  analysis  of  Long-term  Renovation  Strategies51  revealed  that  renovation  target 
indicators are not standardised across the EU, that not every LTRS is sufficiently ambitious towards 
the 2050 decarbonisation goals and that more efforts,  resources,  and sustainable solutions  will be 
necessary to prepare for climate change and contribute to climate neutrality in line with the European 
Green Deal. 

With a good level of completeness, NECPRs show a wide variety of specific additional milestones and 
indicators of the long-term strategy for the renovation of the national stock of residential and non-
residential  buildings.  It  is  possible  to  group  these  indicators,  set  by  Member  States,  in  three main 
categories: 
- 

Improvement  of  the  building  stock:  16  Member  States  reported  at  least  one  target  or 
milestone  within  this  category,  with  a  variety  of  approaches  and  indicators,  such  as:  the 
indication of a renovation rate, a target floor area or number of buildings to be renovated; the 
specific increase in the share of NZEBs or buildings in high energy classes; the phasing-out of 
the worst performing buildings. One country has set a specific target for social housing, while 
some countries for state-owned or central government buildings. 

-  Reduction  in  energy  consumption:  18  Member  States  indicated  at  least  one  target  or 

milestone related to reducing energy consumption in the building sector.  

-  Reduction in GHG emissions:  10 Member States  reported at least one target or milestone 

related to reducing CO2 or GHG emissions. 

51 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128067 

37 

 
 
 
Other targets indicated regard technical systems, installation of PV panels, information and advice to 
SMEs and citizens.  

As a first-of-its-kind exercise to track the evolution of the building stock in Member States, the NECPR 
evidenced the need to further increase efforts in stock-taking and reporting as well as harmonizing of 
milestones and indicators of the renovation of buildings in the EU. To this respect, the Commission is 
working on the standardisation of renovation indicators, to improve comparability of strategies and 
reporting.  The  2023  major  revamping  and  updating  of  the  Building  Stock  Observatory  is  aimed  to 
provide an additional contribution in this regard. Furthermore, in the context of the EPBD revision, 
the LTRSs will evolve into Building Renovation Plans with more targeted indicators and will continue 
to be part of the governance regulation and the integrated national energy and climate reporting. 

Contribution to energy efficiency targets 

NECPR obligations require Member States to describe how progress towards the milestones in the 
long-term  renovation  strategy  contributed  to  achieving  the  Union’s  energy  efficiency  targets  in 
accordance with Directive 2012/27/EU. This requirement is open to descriptive and/or quantitative 
information  and  the  responses  show  a  variety  of  interpretation  from  Member  States  and,  as  a 
mandatory  element,  the  reporting  rate  in  this  field  is  close  to  100%  of  the  submitted  NECPRs. 
However, in some cases, the responses failed to provide references to specific milestones or targets, 
leaving space for improvements and need for additional specification.  

Nearly Zero-Energy Building (NZEB) 

In accordance with Article 9 of the EPBD, NZEB became the new building standard in the Member 
States by 31 December 2020. NZEB performance requirements have progressively increased over the 
last decade and make an important contribution to the decarbonisation of EU’s building stock. 

Member  States  have  established  national  NZEB  definitions  and  provided  numerical  indicators  for 
primary  energy  use  expressed  in  kWh/(m2y)  that  appear  on  average  less  ambitious  than  the 
benchmarks presented in the Commission’s 2016 Recommendation52. A direct comparison of national 
definitions among Member States is not always possible because approaches vary due to differences 
in the specific climate, market, energy mix, construction traditions and other local conditions53. 

The  progress  towards  NZEBs  is  reported  by  16  countries.  In  terms  of  number  of  buildings,  for  12 
Member States it is possible to compare 2021 and 2022 data.54 In six countries the total number of 
NZEBs more than doubled in the period considered, whereas the overall number of NZEBs, obtained 
by aggregating the data of the countries which reported for both years, increased by 12% from 2021 
to 2022. 

52 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC123143 
53 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC112898 
54 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC130528 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.3 Ensuring energy security  
Both  the  global  pandemic  of  2020  and  Russia’s  illegal  and  unprovoked  invasion  of  Ukraine  have 
exposed  EU  vulnerabilities  and  have  shown  the  importance  of  a  resilient  energy  system.  Ensuring 
secure and affordable access to energy for all Europeans is a crucial precondition for the success of 
the  EU  Green  Deal.  This  requires  to  diversified  supply  sources,  managed  demand,  and  adequacy 
between supply and demand in all circumstances, including through storage. 

Overall, most Member States set national objectives and targets related to energy security in the 2019 
NECPs. These objectives take diverse forms and range for instance from the construction and use of 
energy  storage  facilities  to  the  construction  of  LNG  terminals  or  the  reduction  of  energy  import 
dependency. These commitments strengthen EU energy security. Ireland and Spain are the two only 
Member  States  which  did  not  set  any  target  nor  objective  to  enhance  their  energy  security  and 
independence. 

2.3.1. Diversification of energy sources 

A key part of ensuring secure  and affordable supplies  of energy to Europeans involves diversifying 
supply routes. This includes identifying and building new routes that decrease the dependence of EU 
countries on a single supplier of natural gas and other energy resources. This objective has become 
more pressing since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequent reduction of gas flows from the 
Russian Federation to the EU, which are today well below the historical levels (Figure 19). Thanks in 
part to the efforts made by the Member States and the Commission to find alternative supply sources, 
the EU managed to withstand this drop in Russian gas deliveries. 

Figure 19: Evolution of the gas flows from Russian Federation 

Source: JRC  

In the NECPRs, only 7 Member States reported at least one specific quantifiable target or objective for 
the  diversification  of  energy  sources  (Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Luxembourg  and 
Poland). However, almost all these Member States registered some progress, which is a very positive 

39 

 
 
 
development for EU energy security. These targets were most often related to the increase in RES and 
biofuel production. 

Related to this-subdimension, the European Commission also notes that several Member States have 
set  non-quantifiable  objectives  such  as  the  commissioning  of  new,  or  expansion  of  existing,  LNG 
terminals  or  the  increase  of  domestic  oil  and  gas  production  (e.g.  Bulgaria),  which  are  all 
developments that support EU security of supply and on which they all registered some progress. It 
should be noted that LNG, by nature a diversified global source, has considerably increased since 2022 
and is now the first source of gas supply to the EU (Figure 20). 

Figure 20: Monthly gross LNG imports in EU Member States 

Source: JRC (based on GIE ALSI Transparency Platform)  

Progress towards reducing energy import dependency from third countries is mixed. Only 6 Member 
States have set quantifiable targets and objectives for the reduction of energy import dependency 
from third countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Poland). Among the countries that set 
dedicated targets, some reported no significant progress (e.g. Greece) or even registered a worsening 
of the situation (e.g. Croatia, Poland). Only Bulgaria, Italy and Estonia have registered some progress. 
This appears insufficient  within the  context of the  current  geostrategic situation. European energy 
autonomy and resilience should be strengthened as indicated through REPowerEU and the remaining 
high dependency on fossil fuels imports (Figure 21). 

The EU’s fossil fuels import dependence has been largely stable during the past 9 years, increasing by 
1 percentage point  in 2021 compared to 2012. However, this indicator should be  interpreted with 
caution since Eurostat’s dataset only goes only until 2021 and therefore excludes the consequences 
of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Further to changes  to the overall level of dependence on third 
country fossil fuel suppliers, the composition of this dependence has changed with many Member 
States undergoing significant shifts away from fossil fuels imports from Russia since 2022.  

40 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 21: EU27 import dependency on fossil fuels 

Source: DG ENER based on Eurostat data55 

2.3.2. Reduction of demand  
Saving  energy  is  the  safest,  cheapest  and  cleanest  way  to  improve  energy  security  and  end  EU 
dependence  on  Russian  fossil  fuels.  Saving  energy  was  therefore  one  of  the  central  pillars  of 
RePowerEU.  

Gas demand reduction measures, including those coordinated at EU level in an emergency regulation, 
have played a key role in making up for the reduction of gas flows from Russia: between August 2022 
and August 2023, the overall gas consumption in the EU has decreased by 18 % or 73 bcm compared 
to the average of the previous 5 years56. Some Member States outperformed the EU average (such as 
Finland  and  Denmark  which  both  achieved  a  reduction  of  44  %),  while  others  particularly 
underperformed  (such  as  Ireland  which  only  achieved  a  reduction  of  3  %,  or  Malta  which  even 
increased  its  gas  consumption  by  12  %  compared  to  the  reference  period).  These  savings  were 
achieved through a mix of short-to-medium term measures (such as information campaigns and fuel-
switching) and long-term measures (such as energy renovation of buildings, heat pump roll-out, etc.). 

55  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/NRG_IND_ID__custom_7179305/default/table?lang=en.  Note:  Individual  national  data 
includes intra-EU trade. For EU aggregates, the net imports in principle cancel out all intra-EU trade (abstracting from statistical discrepancies 
in reported trade data: imports reported by country A from country B are not always exactly the same as exports by country B to country A). 
56 DG ENER Chief Economist data. 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 22: Change in natural gas demand between August 2022 and August 2023 

Source: DG ENER Chief Economist Team based on ESTAT NRG_CB_GASM (sub-series IC_CAL_MG 
subtracted by TOS) in TJ (as of 29 September 2023, 11:00) 

2.3.3. Ability to cope with constrained or interrupted supply of an energy source 
The ability to cope with constrained or interrupted supply of an energy source is a critical indicator of 
the resilience of an energy system and thus of overall energy security. 

During the past year, gas storage played an instrumental role in safeguarding the EU’'s security of gas 
supply and in helping the EU energy system cope with the constrained supply of Russian fossil fuels. 
Following  the  adoption  of  the  Gas  Storage  Regulation  (EU/2022/1032)  in  June  2022  and  of  the 
Implementing Regulation (EU/2022/230) in November 2022, Member States now must meet filling 
targets to ensure a minimum level of storage in the EU in the winter season. Storage operators are 
now  also  certified  in  close  contact  with  the  European  Commission  to  reduce  the  risk  of  external 
interference. As of September 2023, all Member States were on track to meet their targets, ensuring 
a filling level of 95% in early October 2023 (Figure 23).  

Figure 23: Evolution of EU UGS filling level compared 6-gas year average and range 

Source: JRC (raw data from AGSI+ Transparency Platform) 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
In terms of preparedness of the gas sector, 14 Member States have submitted their updated National 
Risk  Assessment  (Czechia,  Denmark,  Greece,  Spain,  Finland,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Malta, 
Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Sweden,  Slovenia),  9  Member  States  have  submitted their  updated 
Preventive  Action  Plan  (Czechia,  Denmark,  Finland,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Portugal, 
Sweden),  and  13  Member  States  have  submitted  their  Emergency  Plan  (Austria,  Belgium,  Czechia, 
Germany, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Sweden). These 
documents are currently being assessed by European Commission services. The European Commission 
is in close contact with those Member States that have not submitted their assessments and/or plans. 

As for the electricity sector, all 27 Member States submitted the Risk Preparedness Plan in 2022, and 
the European Commission released an opinion on each of them. Most Member States set quantifiable 
targets or objectives related to the ability to cope with constrained or interrupted supply of an energy 
source (only Ireland, Latvia and Romania had not set any related target or objective). However, only 
few Member States reported targets that both enhance the resilience of their power system and their 
gas system (Czechia, Lithuania and Sweden). Overall progress appears positive with most countries 
having  achieved  significant  progress  on  the  resilience  of  their  gas  and  power  systems.  In  the  next 
iteration of this exercise, it would be positive if all Member States would set targets for the resilience 
of both their power and their gas systems. 

Several Member States also reported objectives related to the development of electricity storage and 
flexibility (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia), on which they also 
reported good progress. This is a very positive development, as storage and flexibility will be critical 
in  ensuring  the  stability  of  the  future  power  system  featuring  an  increasing  share  of  intermittent 
renewables.,. System flexibility (see section 2.4.3) and deploying storage for electricity in line of the 
Commission’s Recommendation (2023/C 103/01) is a key element of energy security.  

2.3.4. Other targets and non-quantifiable objectives related to energy security 
Several  Member  States  (Austria,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Hungary,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Netherlands, 
Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden) reported other targets and objectives related to energy security. 
These range from an ambition to increase the share of renewables in the electricity system, support 
biomethane production to reduce annual outage minutes in electricity supply. 

It is difficult to provide a general assessment on the progress made on these objectives, since these 
are by definition very diverse. However, most Member States that set targets related to diversification 
and to reducing dependencies did not report significant progress. The European Commission however 
notes the positive progress reported by Sweden on its security of oil supply. 

Lastly, most Member States also set several non-quantifiable objectives and targets. These range from 
the building of interconnections with the neighbours, the promotion of storage and flexibility targets 
to  the  extension  of  the  lifetime  of  nuclear  power  plants.  All  Member  States  with  such  objectives 
reported progress. The objectives contribute to enhance energy security in the EU and are therefore 
welcomed by the European Commission. 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.4 Achieving an interconnected internal energy market  
2.4.1 Electricity interconnectivity  
Based on the received data57, in 2021, 20 MS had electricity interconnectivity levels above both the 
2020  (10%)  and  2030  (15%)  EU  targets.  Of  those,  10  did  not  report  an  own  2030  target  value,  8 
overachieved their 2030 target value (often set equal to the 15% EU target), while 2 (BE/RO) report a 
target  value  to  substantially  increase  interconnectivity  by  2030.  3  MS  (FR,  EL,  RO)  have  an 
interconnectivity level above the 2020 target but are still below their own target value and the EU 
target for 2030. 4 MS are still below the 2020 EU connectivity target of 10%: 3 of those (IT, IE, CY: the 
latter  two  have  no  current  electricity  interconnection  with  other  EU  MS)  report  a  target  value  to 
increase interconnectivity by 2030, while Spain does not report an interconnectivity target value for 
2030.  Overall,  Member  States  have  made  good  efforts  to  increase  cross-border  capacity  and  the 
completion  of  various  Projects  of  Common  Interest  should  further  improve  the  interconnectivity 
levels.  Some  Member  States  (CZ,  IT,  PT  RO,  SI,  SE)  are  reporting  delays  in  the  completion  of  the 
projects  in  particular  due  to  permitting  issues.  Still  further  efforts  are  required  to  meet  the  2030 
objectives, especially in terms of timely delivery of the planned cross-border projects. 

2.4.2 Infrastructure projects  
Energy  infrastructure  is  a  key  enabler  for  energy  transition,  helps  integrate  renewable  energy 
contributes significantly to the integration of the energy market and ensures security of supply across 
the EU.  

The Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) policy together with the Connecting Europe Facility 
for Energy (CEF-E) are big contributor to this success. Between its launch in 2014 and the end of 2022, 
CEF has already allocated EUR 6.26 billion of EU grants, supporting 124 actions on studies (EUR 510 
million) and 43 actions on works (EUR 5.75 billion) in gas, electricity, smart grids, CO2 networks and 
cross-border renewable energy projects. 162 actions worth EUR 6.24 billion concern PCIs under the 
TEN-E policy, the remainder are cross-border renewable energy.  

2.4.3 Energy system flexibility  
Grid  developments  should  be  coupled  with  improvement  of  energy  system  flexibility to  cope  with 
variations  in  electricity  generation  from  renewable  energy  resources.  Flexibility  solutions  such  as 
demand response  and storage  enable the adjustment  of the electricity system to the variability of 
generation  and  consumption  patterns.  This  results  in  an  efficient  use  of  grid  infrastructure  and 
renewable  electricity  generation  by  minimising  curtailments  and  reducing  the  costs  of  electricity 
systems, and ultimately the energy prices for consumers.  

An efficient integration of the intraday markets and balancing markets across the European Union is 
also enabling market actors to adjust close to the delivery date of the energy and, hereby, contribute 
to  an  optimal  use  of  the  energy  system,  promoting  active  participation  and  demand  response. 
Moreover, the Electricity Directive (EU) 2019/944 requires Member States to put in place appropriate 
measures and provide incentives to distribution system operators to procure market-based flexibility 
services to efficiently operate their networks and to avoid costly network expansions. While the timely 
and  correct  transposition  of  the  related  provisions  on  flexibility  in  the  Electricity  Directive  (EU) 
2019/944 is of utmost importance, development of flexibility services remains slow among Member 
States. 

57 Since MS used their own data sources the calculation might not be fully consistent between MS 

44 

 
 
 
Some Member States are reporting significant progress made towards the integration of intraday and 
day ahead-market with full market coupling of the member states end 2022 or further integration of 
the balancing market (HR, DK, EL). While these improvements are welcome, integration of balancing 
markets through EU platforms remain too scattered and effects on price signals and system flexibility 
remain unclear. 

On  the  other  hand,  not  all  Member  States  appear  to  have  defined  national  objectives  relating  to 
energy  system  flexibility.  Regarding  those  who  have,  the  national  objectives  vary  in  terms  of 
adaptability  and  measurability.  The  national  objectives  address  development  of  renewable  energy 
production,  procurement of  flexibility  and  renewable  resources  for  balancing purposes,  integrated 
network planning, accompanied by the  use of digital infrastructure and the development of smart 
grids.  

Some Member States have already progressed further with the integration of flexible energy sources 
in  their  electricity  systems.  Among  those  Member  States  is  Sweden,  who  has  defined  six  national 
objectives for flexibility solutions to identify and remove obstacles and promote flexibilities such as 
demand response and storage. Greece has put in place clear frameworks regarding participation and 
operation of demand response, making progress to attract demand response for the energy markets. 
In addition, while some Member States are reporting on a framework to enable the deployment of 
storage capacities and batteries in line with their objectives (EL, LT), progress on this crucial aspect for 
energy system flexibility remain quite limited, or not documented. 

2.4.4 Non-discriminatory participation in energy markets 
Non-discriminatory participation in energy markets is a key pillar of energy market liberalisation. It is 
fundamental to ensure competition between technologies and market parties and, crucially, to ensure 
that  costs  are  thereby  kept  as  low  as  possible  for  consumers.  In  addition,  it  is  a  key  tool  for 
decarbonisation.  A  successful  energy  transition  is  one  where  renewables,  demand  response  and 
storage  are  fully  integrated  into  energy  markets  and  utilised  to  their  maximum  potential,  thereby 
reducing the need for reliance on electricity generated from fossil-fuel power plants.  

Wherever possible, all technologies should follow common rules. However, where market rules could 
implicitly favour conventional generation, the Electricity Regulation requires Member States to update 
these rules to allow all technologies to offer any services that they are technically capable of providing. 
Furthermore, where market interventions by transmission system operators are required to adjust 
the market outcome for system operation reasons, curtailment should take place on a market basis 
or where this is not possible, renewables should be curtailed last and be compensated for curtailment. 

Only 16 Member States (BG, HR, CY, CZ, EE, FI, EL, IT, LV, LT, LU, PL, PT, SK, SI, SE) reported on this 
topic, and indicated to have set targets and objectives to facilitate the non-discriminatory participation 
of certain market actors. Most reported positive progress on the integration of renewables, demand 
response  and energy  storage  in  a  non-discriminatory  way through  day  ahead  and  intraday  market 
coupling.  Some  reported  on  balancing  market  objectives  or  progress  to  enable  independent 
aggregators and citizen energy communities. One Member State replied about plans for retail price 
deregulation. The replies focussed exclusively on electricity but generally covered very different topics 
and are therefore not comparable. Further integration of key market players such as aggregators, and 
energy service companies will be crucial in the years to come to accelerate the clean energy transition.  

45 

 
 
2.4.5 Consumer participation in the energy system and benefits from self-generation and 
new technologies, including smart meters  
Consumer participation in the energy system is vital for achieving a sustainable and efficient energy 
future. With the increasing emphasis on environmental responsibility and the need to reduce carbon 
emissions, many EU Member States are setting ambitious goals to involve consumers in the energy 
transition.58  

One key aspect of this transition is the adoption of self-generation and new technologies, including 
the widespread implementation of smart meters, an essential tool to facilitate consumer engagement 
by providing access to information. The progress made by EU Member States towards their national 
objectives is promising. These efforts demonstrate a collective commitment to embracing innovative 
solutions and sustainable practices in the energy sector. However, challenges remain, such as the need 
for accelerated smart meter rollout and the development of clear progress indicators in certain cases.  

Based on the reported information, the roll-out of smart meters is relatively successful in 17 Member 
States, however 6 Member States have made limited progress, with 4 Member States reporting no 
roll-out at all. This limits the accessibility of accurate and real-time information to consumers, which 
is crucial for supporting their efforts to reduce demand or adapt consumption to times when it is more 
favourable for the energy system. 

2.4.6 Electricity system adequacy  
Capacity  Mechanisms  have  been  introduced  in  several  EU  Member  States  to  give  more  revenue 
predictability  and  ensure  security  of  supply,  enabling  Member  States  under  certain  conditions,  to 
provide subsidies to power generators and other technologies, such as demand response and storage. 

As they can have a significant impact on the internal electricity market and because the costs of these 
mechanisms are paid by electricity consumers, Regulation (EU) 2019/943 introduced, for the first time, 
a framework at European level to govern capacity mechanisms.  

Regulation (EU) 2019/943 requires Member States with an adequacy concern, to develop and execute 
an implementation plan (market reform plan), setting out how they intend to address the root causes 
of their adequacy problem with market reforms. To ensure that the internal market level-playing field 
is preserved, the rules prescribe that subsidies are granted only when an adequacy issue exists or will 
arise in the future. Robust assessments, whether performed nationally or at EU level, are fundamental 
to evaluate security of supply  risks and act, if necessary. These  assessments  should be  based on a 
common European methodology (ERAA methodology) adopted by ACER in 2020.  

With  regards  to  national  assessments,  the  implementation  of  the  relevant  ERAA  methodology  to 
assess adequacy at national level diverges significantly across Member States. Some Member States 
undergo  high-quality  and  comprehensive  assessments,  while  some  others  apply  oversimplified 
approaches that diverge substantially from the EU-methodology.  

Setting  a  reliability  standard  is  necessary  for  any  robust  decision-making  regarding  adequacy.  It 
enables a Member State to decide whether measures are needed to ensure that resource adequacy 
risks remain within limits. That is why under Regulation (EU) 2019/943 Member States implementing 
or intending to implement a capacity mechanism must set their own reliability standard at national 
level. So far, only a few Member States have reportedly calculated the reliability standard according 
to the framework. Overall, references to progress on electricity system adequacy remain vague and 

58 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC127631 

46 

 
 
 
do not allow to draw conclusion. In view of increasing energy security, France reported to explore 
further regional cooperation on capacity building. 

47 

 
 
 
 
2.5 Research & innovation and competitiveness  
2.5.1 Translating the SET Plan objectives and policies  
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) provides a platform of cooperation among 
Members for the coordination of their R&D efforts. It is a key instrument of the research, innovation, 
and competitiveness dimension of the Energy Union. The SET Plan is currently being revised to meet 
the objectives of the European Green Deal, REPowerEU, ERA and the Green Deal Industrial Plan. 

The  Clean  Energy Transition Partnership co-funded under Horizon Europe  is a successful EU cross-
sectoral  cooperation  between  national  and  regional  research  and  innovation  programmes  in  EU 
Member  States  and  Associated  Countries  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  SET  Plan.  The 
partnership pools more than EUR 500 million in national funding with roughly EUR 500 million of EU 
funding to support jointly agreed R&I priorities. 

Overall, 20 Member States reported on measures implementing the SET Plan objectives and policies 
at  national  level59.  In  this  regard,  there  is  a  variety  of  national  approaches.  Most  Member  States 
reported on comprehensive research-funding programs, which support the development of the wide 
range of technologies included in the scope of SET Plan Implementation Working Groups. The most 
frequently  reported  measures  relate  to  renewable  energy  technologies;  energy  systems;  energy 
efficiency  in  buildings,  sustainable  and  efficient  energy  use  in  industry;  and  renewable  fuels  and 
bioenergy. In contrast, least addressed were nuclear safety, positive energy districts and HVDC & DC 
technologies.  

Among the 20 Member States which reported national measures implementing SET Plan objectives 
(e.g., the development of a research funding program or support for projects), 12 Member States also 
provided information on the progress of their implementation (e.g., number of demonstration projects 
supported, spending on R&D etc.) noting progress toward the achievement of at least one of their 
targets.  The  most  frequently  used  progress  indicator  is  public  spending  in  terms  of  the  budget 
dedicated to research programs or number of financed projects. 

For the remaining reports, in the case of 3 Member States, it is too early to assess progress, as support 
measures implementing the targets are not yet in place or have only been implemented recently. 5 
Member States provided no indicators. The information in the reports refers to “new measures” with 
a timeline to 2030; therefore, it does not allow the assessment against pre-existing targets. 

59 Currently, the SET Plan activities are clustered into 10 research and innovation actions, implemented by 14 Implementation Working Groups 
(IWGs). Member States are represented in the Steering Group (SG), while in the work of the IWGs, apart from representation of  Member 
States, there is also participation from a number of different non-state actors - such as academia, industry, business associations etc. Therefore, 
much of the work within the IWGs may not entail the direct engagement from the Member States, which would explain differences between 
SET Plan data collection from the technology IWGs, and NECP reporting. 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 24: Measures implementing the SET Plan objectives as reported in the integrated energy and climate 
progress reports 

Source: JRC based on the NECPRs 

2.5.2 Public and, where available, private spending in research and innovation relating to 
clean energy technologies 
Overall, 19 Member States provided some information on quantifiable national objectives relating to 
public spending on R&I, and 5 reported against a target. Of the 13 Member States that reported data 
for both 2020 and 2021, 12 recorded an increase in R&I investment (AT, CZ, DE, FI, FR, LT, MT, NL, PT, 
RO,  ES,  SE),  and  only  one  a  slight  decrease  (EL).  In  addition,  5  Member  States also  included  some 
information on private expenditure on R&I, only 1 providing a target. 

The public R&I spending indicated by Austria, Czechia, Finland, France, Denmark, Germany and Spain 
is comparable to the values reported under respective headings by these Member States to the IEA60. 
The  Netherlands  and  Slovakia  seem  to  only  consider  part  of  the  spending  reported  to  the  IEA  as 
relevant in the context of the NECPR. There is no comparative value for Greece, while there appear to 
be  encoding  errors  with  the  values  provided  by  Lithuania,  Malta,  Portugal,  Poland,  Romania  and 
Sweden. As several Member States report only partially and as there are seemingly encoding errors, 
it is difficult to provide an informed assessment at EU level, beyond stressing the need to improve 
capacity and consistency in monitoring and reporting of R&I spending in clean energy technologies. 

With regards to the targets for public R&I investment in clean energy technologies included in the 
reporting by 4 Member States:  

- 

- 

In  2021, Denmark  and  Germany  have  already  achieved  their objectives. Denmark  invested 
30% over the annual target set for 2024, and Germany just surpassed the target set for 2021. 
France would have had to increase expenditure by over a third between 2021 and 2022 to 
reach the 2022 target.  

60 The IEA’s Energy Technology RD&D Budgets database allows users to track trends in spending by energy technology in IEA countries. 
Data is collected from central or federal government budgets. The following Member States are IEA Members: AT, BE, CZ, DE, DK, EL, 
ES, FI, FR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, NL, PL, PT, SE, SK (EL and LU do not report) IEA, 2023. Energy Technology RD&D Budgets. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
- 

Slovakia will have to more than double the public R&I investment each year to reach the level 
targeted for 2024.  

-  Greece has reported on a longer-term target for 2030, which implies a 17% annual increase in 
R&I investment from 2021 onwards (a slight decrease was reported between 2020 and 2021). 

Figure  25:  Progress  towards  quantifiable  national  objectives  for  total  public  spending  in  research  and 
innovation as reported in the integrated energy and climate progress reports 

Source: JRC based on the MS integrated energy and climate progress reports 

Overall, 18 MS reported on non-quantifiable national objectives related to public spending on R&I. 
There are significant differences in the Member States' approach on reporting. Several (e.g. Austria, 
the  Netherlands)  provided  detailed  breakdowns  of  numerous  national  programs,  while  others 
provided more general information on R&D funding.  

Member States reported a wide range of targets related to the development of clean technologies. In 
several  cases,  the  support  measures  or  programs  were  technology  specific.  For  instance,  France 
reported investments in the infrastructure for Small and Modular Reactors and research on modern 
reactors, Romania focused on nuclear energy including participation in the programme for research, 
development  and  innovation  for  Generation  IV  reactors  –  ALFRED,  while  Estonia  focused  on  the 
development of hydrogen valleys and energy storage technologies. Germany reported the increase of 
international cooperation as one of national objectives, indicating both engagement in multinational 
platforms (Mission Innovation, Technology Cooperation Programs within IEA) and bilateral initiatives, 
such as a joint R&D call with the Netherlands on "Electrochemical materials and processes for green 
hydrogen and green chemistry". Based on the submitted information,  15 MS reported on progress 
towards the fulfilment of at least one of their national targets. Most  indicators refer to budgetary 
spending  channelled  through  research  programs.  Other  aspects  included  an  expected  increase  of 
scientific research output (e.g. patents), as well as the development of smart specialisation strategies.  

2.5.3 Long term decarbonisation targets 
Out  of  23  Member  States  who  submitted  NECPRs,  15  provided  information  on  progress  towards 
national objectives on the deployment of technologies for decarbonising energy- and carbon-intensive 
industrial sectors. In the case of 11 Members States, progress toward at least one of their objectives 
was also reported.  

50 

 
 
 
Despite varying national approaches, most of the Member States focused on measures supporting the 
decarbonisation  of  industry.  Several  reported  the  development  of  national  strategies  and  funding 
programs  facilitating  industrial  transformation.  For  instance,  Austria  -  (transformation  of  the 
economy), France (industry decarbonisation strategy and support for low carbon industrial processes), 
Germany (support scheme for CCS and CCU in industry, scheme to support the decarbonisation of 
industry, avoidance of climate change relevant process emissions from industry; support scheme for 
increasing  energy  and  resource  efficiency  in  industry),  Estonia  (energy  efficiency  and  resource 
productivity), Italy (decrease of emission in hard-to-abate sectors), Portugal (industry decarbonisation 
towards net-zero) and Spain (strategic projects for economic recovery and transformation – industrial 
decarbonisation). Progress toward targets was demonstrated by in terms of public budget allocated 
for the targets and the number of projects funded and companies supported (AT, CY, DK, EE, FR, PT, 
ES). 

In terms of quantifiable targets, the Netherlands reported a decrease of the CO2 emission factor of 
electricity  production  to  about  50%  of  the  2000  value,  reaching  0.3  kg/kWh  in  2021.  This  reports 
progress  toward  the  objective  of  “National  Climate  Agreement:  electricity  production  100%  CO2 
neutral by 2050”. Germany assessed that the "Support scheme for increasing energy and resource 
efficiency in industry" led to a decrease of 2362 kt CO2 equivalents in 2021. Overall, Germany reported 
the  highest  number of  national  financing  programs, adding  up  to 180  projects and  EUR 74 million 
support in 2021. 

Hungary reported detailed technology quantitative targets and progress toward them, as follows:  

reaching 240 MW electrolyser capacity by 2030 (in 2023, 2.5 MW was installed).  
reaching 6 GW of PV capacity by 2030 (4GW in operation in 2022).  

• 
• 
•  1300  local  e-buses  in  operation  by  2029  (79  e-buses  were  in  operation  in  2022,  and  157 

delivered in 2023).  
the increase of smart meters deployment (467 870 smart meters in 2022). 

• 

2.5.4 Competitiveness 

Overall, 13 Member States reported information on the progress towards national objectives related 
to  competitiveness,  8  of  which  noted  progress  in  this  field.  A  more  detailed  analysis  on  energy 
subsidies can be found in the 2023 competitiveness progress report adopted at the same time as this 
staff working document. 

Recurring competitiveness targets, which are also easily quantifiable, were the increase in the number 
of patents (reported on by Italy, Portugal and Hungary) or accelerating growth of SMEs and start-ups 
(reported on by France and Italy).  

Austria  provided  details  on  the  contribution  of  the  EU  program  Important  Project  of  Common 
European Interest (IPCEIs) for Austrian companies participating in projects related to energy storage, 
microelectronics,  and  hydrogen.  Belgium  (Flanders  Region)  submitted  information  on  support 
provided to innovation clusters.  

Several countries referred to economic indicators like improving labour productivity and export value 
(Estonia),  ranking  within  the  global  competitiveness  index  (Latvia),  guaranteed  access  to  energy 
resources at a competitive price level (Lithuania), or improvement of the energy efficiency of their 
economy (Bulgaria). 

51 

 
 
 
 
2.6 Energy subsidies  

The total amount of energy subsidies in EU27 increased from EUR 177 billion (2015) to EUR 216 billion 
by 2021. As a direct consequence of the energy crisis, this amount is expected to reach nearly  EUR 
390 billion in 2022. 

Member States created 230 temporary subsidy instruments as a response to the energy price crisis, 
for a total estimated value of EUR 195 billion. Many of these measures, taken by Member States to 
protect households and commercial and industrial consumers, are expected to be phased out in 2023 
or once energy prices return to stable levels. 

The  crisis  led  to  a  temporary  surge  in  fossil  fuel  subsidies  (primarily  natural  gas  and  road  fuel), 
reaching EUR 123 billion in 2022. For 2023, initial estimates indicate that fossil fuel subsidies remained 
at a similar level: around EUR 110 billion as support measures linked to the price crisis continued into 
2023. 

Subsidies granted to renewable energies decreased from EUR 88 billion in 2020 to EUR 86 billion in 
2021 and to ~87 billion in 2022. This is mainly due to market-based subsidy instruments like Feed-in 
tariffs,  Feed-in  premiums,  and  Contracts  for  Difference,  because  high  market  prices  led  to 
reimbursements flowing from energy producers to the governments. 

A significant  portion of temporary instruments were aimed at  households, which received EUR  58 
billion in support from temporary instruments. Support to the road transport sector reached EUR 23 
billion, while cross-sectoral subsidies were EUR 69 billion. 

This year was the first time that Member States reported on the phasing out of energy subsidies as 
part of their NECPR. This helped validate and improve the quality of the energy subsidies database 
and  provide  insight  on  the  planned  end-date  of  fossil  fuel  subsidies.  There  is  a  planned  end-date 
(before 2025) for 47% (EUR 58 billion) of total FFS (EUR 123 billion). Only about 1% (EUR 1.7 billion) of 
the FFS have an end-date in the medium term (2025-2030). For the remaining 52% (EUR 64 billion61) 
of these FFS, there is either no end-date yet or the end-date has been set after the year 2030. 

A more detailed analysis on energy subsidies can be found in the Report on energy subsidies in Europe 
adopted at the same time as this staff working document. 

61 This amount includes EUR 10 billion fossil fuel subsidies that are still under review. 

52 

 
 
 
Figure 26: Subsidies by main energy source / energy carrier in the EU27 (2015-2022; EUR2022bn) 

Source: Enerdata, Trinomics, 2023 
NB: 2022 are preliminary results, some amounts contain yet unconfirmed figures (represented with hatching). 

53 

 
 
 
 
2.7 Energy poverty 
Tackling energy poverty affecting households across Europe has been a pressing issue for years now 
and has recently intensified because of the energy crisis that unfolded in 2021-2022. On the other 
hand,  this  crisis  has  also  acted  as  a  catalyst,  prompting  the  need  for  immediate  action  or  a  re-
evaluation of previous efforts. As evidence that this process is still very much ongoing, there has been 
minimal  reporting  on  the  relevant  mitigation  policies  that  have  been  implemented  and/or  the 
progress  made  towards  the  objective  of  reducing  the  number  of  households  experiencing  energy 
poverty so far. 

Various countries in the EU have recognised the urgency of tackling this problem and have established 
national objectives and strategies to mitigate energy poverty. Based on the Commission's overview, a 
wide range of approaches and outcomes can be observed among EU member states. These include 
the establishment of qualitative national targets, which stress the importance of enabling all segments 
of society to afford their essential energy and mobility needs at reasonable prices. Some countries 
have set specific targets tied to eligibility criteria for implementing direct tariffs or bill support and 
dedicated  funds.  Additionally,  several  Member  States  have  developed  comprehensive  national 
strategies,  often  in  conjunction  with  energy  efficiency  and  housing  renovation  policies  and 
programmes. Greece, for example, has introduced the Energy Poverty Action Plan as part of its NECP, 
aiming to radically combat energy poverty. In France, various measures have been implemented to 
address energy poverty inequalities, including subsidies for energy-efficient renovations and aid for 
low-income  households.  Spain  also  addresses  energy  poverty  through  its  NECP,  aligning  with  the 
National Strategy against Energy Poverty. 

In conclusion, European Member States employ diverse approaches to address energy poverty, based 
either  on  quantitative  targets  or  more  qualitative  assessments.  While  some  countries  have  seen 
positive progress, others face challenges in providing clear progress assessments. Nonetheless, the 
recognition  of  energy  poverty  as  a  critical  issue  and  the  formulation  of  strategies  to  alleviate  it 
represent significant steps toward ensuring that every citizen can access affordable and indispensable 
energy services. 

Energy poverty definitions 

Defining energy poverty at the national level is the initial step towards establishing a stable legislative 
framework.  Accurately  identifying  the  problem  and  understanding  its  context  is  fundamental  to 
effective policymaking, whether at local, national, or EU levels.62 This process facilitates the translation 
of political commitments into long-term and medium-term strategies and operational action plans, 
fostering coordination among various stakeholders and all relevant actors working in this field.  

Across EU Member States, there is a notable diversity in defining energy poverty. Most countries do 
not, or do not yet, provide an explicit definition of energy poverty. Among those who do, the definition 
is not necessarily official. A few countries have established precise legal definitions, while most of the 
others have yet to provide official interpretations. There is clearly scope for the Commission to provide 
additional  guidance  to  the  Member  States,  in  particular  through  the  EU-level  definition  of  energy 
poverty established in the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EU/2023/179163) the upcoming revision 
of  the  energy  poverty  Recommendation,  and  the  Coordination  Group  on  Energy  Poverty  and 
Vulnerable Customers64, which functions as a dialogue platform. 

62 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC130057 
63 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AJOL_2023_231_R_0001&qid=1695186598766 
64 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/energy-poverty-and-vulnerable-consumers-coordination-group.html 

54 

 
 
 
Energy poverty indicators 

Energy  poverty  has  been  firmly  acknowledged  and  legislated  within  EU  law,  with  Member  States 
bearing the responsibility of assessing the number of energy poor within their respective territories 
and  implementing  remedial  measures  in  case  of  significant  incidence65.  Quantitative  data  on  the 
number of affected households provides essential insights into the scale and nature of the problem in 
different  countries.  Effective  policies  and  interventions  must  consider  these  varying  situations  to 
address the unique challenges faced by households in energy poverty across Europe. 

The share of households unable to keep their homes adequately warm decreased from 8% in 2020 to 
6.9 % in 2021. Only Spain reported a strong increase between 2019 and 2021. All Member States are 
impacted, although with substantial geographical diversity, with values ranging from 1.4 % in Finland 
to 22.5% in Bulgaria. It should be noted that these reported values do not yet reflect the increase of 
households unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2022 as a result of the spike in energy 
prices.  At  the  same  time,  Member  States  have  put  in  place  a  significant  number  of  emergency 
measures last winter that have contributed containing the impact of the energy crisis on the most 
vulnerable households. 

2.8 Just transition 
To ensure a just transition towards net-zero, a coordinated, cross-policy approach is essential, in line 
with the Council recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality,66 including 
to invest in a skilled workforce  as a strategic asset  and to support the  most vulnerable during the 
transition. 

On  skills,  this  approach  involves  increasing  the  workforce  and  providing  opportunities  for  the  re-
skilling of individuals already active in roles related to the evolving clean energy transition. It is crucial 
to ensure that no one is left behind in this transformation. Often, challenges arise from inadequate 
coordination  among  various  policy  domains  (energy,  environment,  employment,  education, 
migration) and governance levels (EU, national, regional, local). 

The impacts of NECPs on jobs, workers, and regions across Europe vary depending on the country's 
specific  circumstances,  employment  structures  and  plans.  While  some  countries  and  industries 
anticipate positive outcomes in terms of job creation and economic growth, others face significant 
challenges, particularly in regions heavily reliant on fossil fuel industries. Nonetheless, it appears that 
these plans are in general designed to alleviate adverse outcomes via specific interventions, reskilling 
initiatives, and assistance for impacted communities, all with an emphasis on sustainable and inclusive 
development. 

Against the background of rising labour and skills shortages, policies to support the right skills in the 
labour market and incentives for worker transitions out of polluting sectors are of key importance in 
achieving the transition towards climate neutrality on the ground while leaving no person behind. For 
example, In France, the "France 2030" investment plan has launched a call for expressions of interest 
to support companies in their training and skill development needs, particularly in green hydrogen, 
renewable  energy,  and  industrial  decarbonization  sectors.  In  Greece,  funds  will  be  allocated  to 
support entrepreneurship, R&D and business infrastructure and to strengthen human resources and 
the skills of the workforce in the affected areas, mainly lignite mining regions. 

65 Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 
66 2022/C 243/04 of 27 June 2022; see also COM (2021)801 and SWD (2021)452 of 14 December 2021 

55 

 
 
 
Some Member States are actively working to promote human rights and gender equality within this 
context under their NECPs. For instance, Cyprus is revising its NECP to focus on how proposed policies 
and measures will affect vulnerable groups, aiming to safeguard human rights in the face of climate 
change.  France  also  highlights  its  efforts  to  protect  human  rights  by  implementing  measures  to 
address climate change impacts, providing adaptation and recourse options for vulnerable individuals. 
These  actions  are  driven  by  the  goal  of  ensuring  dignified  living  conditions  for  all  citizens  despite 
climate-related challenges.67 

Conducting a gender analysis as part of an NECP assessment can offer a valuable starting point for 
advancing a just and socially inclusive energy transition, especially if an intersectional perspective is 
adopted. Cyprus plans to include a section on gender equality in its revised NECP, aiming to reduce 
the gender employment gap, particularly in jobs related to clean energy policies. France stands out 
with  its  commitment  to  addressing  gender-related  barriers  within  the  energy  sector.  The  country 
enforces equal pay for women and men, promotes gender diversity in traditionally male-dominated 
fields,  and  measures  progress  through  the  gender  equality  index.  The  results  show  consistent 
improvement, demonstrating the positive impact of these measures on company practices.  

As Europe continues its transition to clean energy and in the context of the Council Recommendation 
on  ensuring  a  fair  transition  towards  climate  neutrality68,  it  is  crucial  to  monitor  and  evaluate  the 
effectiveness  of  these  measures  in  promoting  human  rights  and  gender  equality  to  assess  EU 
commitments to ensure a more sustainable, just, and socially inclusive future for all.  

2.9 Links with the European Semester  
The European Semester is part of the European Union's economic governance framework. This yearly 
exercise, in which member states align their budgetary and economic policies with the rules agreed at 
EU  level,  has  strong  synergies  with  the  governance  mechanism  provided  by  the  Governance 
Regulation. 

This is reflected in the country specific recommendations adopted under the European Semester. The 
recommendations adopted in 2019 and 2020, are clearly aligned with the NECPs set out at the end of 
2019,  as  they  provide  most  of  the  Member  States  with  targeted  recommendations  in  relation  to 
challenges identified in their NECPs as applicable, notably in the areas of renewable energy, energy 
efficiency and the supporting energy infrastructure. 

In  response  to  the  Russian  war  of  aggression  in  Ukraine,  and  the  related  EU-wide  challenges  with 
regard to energy prices and security, the 2022 and 2023 recommendations increased these synergies 
further by emphasizing the systemic need across all Member States to reduce their reliance on and 
diversify their imports of fossil fuels, and put in place the necessary supporting policies, notably with 
regard to renewable energy, efficiency and the supporting energy infrastructure, to achieve this. 

67 https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC132894 
68 2022/C 243/04 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
3 Policy and measures to achieve the objectives  
3.1 Progress in implementing policies and measures 
Member States have been reporting their greenhouse gas policies and measures in the EEA database 
since 2015. In 2023, this reporting has been expanded to include policies and measures covering all 5 
dimensions of the Energy Union in an integrated manner. 

The total number of single PaMs reported increased from 2052 in 2021 to 3039 in 2023. There are on 
average 113 single PaMs per Member State. This is a 48% increase compared to 2021/2022, however 
the increased scope should be taken into consideration (filtering for the decarbonisation dimension, 
closer to the scope of the previous reporting exercise, the increase of reported single PaMs remain 
sizeable, around 16%). 

Although the number of PaMs has increased, there are still significant differences among Member 
States in the number of reported PaMs. Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and France reported the most 
individual measures and Bulgaria, Austria, Greece and Malta the least (Figure 27). A main reason is 
that  some  Member  States  report  their  PaMs  at  a  highly  disaggregated  level,  while  other  Member 
States report their PaMs in a more aggregated level. 

Compared to the previous reporting exercise (2021), Cyprus and Luxembourg substantially increased 
the number of reported PaMs (followed by Spain, Portugal, Finland, Italy and Estonia), while Bulgaria, 
Austria and Malta decreased significantly. 

57 

 
 
 
 
Figure 27: Number of single policies and measures reported by Member States in different reporting years. 

Looking at the starting year of these reported PaMs (Figure 28), we see that there is a large increase 
of newly implemented PaMs, i.e. those put in place following the adoption the NECPs (879 new PaMs, 
around 29% of the total).69 This increase in PaMs might reflect that many Member States have and 
will have to implement new policies and measures to meet their 2030 climate and energy objectives. 

69 as determined based on update status and start year. 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 28: Number of single policies and measures reported by EU Member States per start year. 

When we look at the status of these new PaMs, 286 (33%) are planned, 219 (25%) are adopted and 
359 (41%) are implemented, showing that additional action is being taken. 

With respect to sectors, most new PaMs target energy supply (28% of PaMs), energy consumption 
(27%) and transport (25%). At the same time, we see that relatively more new PaMs target agriculture 
(14% new compared to 11% overall) and LULUCF (9% new compared to 7% overall). 

With respect to the instrument type, most new PaMs are economic (51% of PaMs), regulatory (33%) 
and/or planning (17%) instruments. Relatively more new PaMs are economic instruments (51% new 
compared to 43% overall) and planning instruments (17% new compared to 13% overall), while we 
see a slight decrease in the share of regulatory and fiscal measures. 

Most  new  PaMs  reported  are  national  (90%),  with  only  a  small  number  being  regional,  local,  or 
covering two or more countries. 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 29: Number of expired, implemented, adopted, and planned new* single policies and measures.  

Notes:  
* New since the adoption of the NECP, as determined based on update status and start year  

2379 PaMs were reported to contribute to GHG emissions and removals (reported by 27 MS), 594 to 
renewables (24 MS), 865 to energy efficiency (26 MS), 204 to energy security (19 MS), 170 to the 
internal energy market (20 MS) and 115 to research, innovation and competitiveness (19 MS).70 This 
distribution reflects that with regard to certain areas, i.e. GHG emissions and removals and energy 
efficiency,  structured  reporting  on  policies  and  measures  has  been  in  place  before  on  which  the 
integrated reporting builds. At the same time there are 10 MS that  did not yet report policies and 
measures in all dimensions. 

Most  single  national  policies  and  measures  are  implemented  in  response  to  one  or  more  Union 
policies.  Measures  were  reported  to  be  implemented  in  response  to  55  listed  policies,  the  most 
mentioned ones are shown in Figure 30 below. It can be noted that Member States also report PaMs 
against  new  Union  policies  such  as  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  Regulation  (32  PaMs),  the 
European  Climate  Law  (19  PaMs),  the  Regulation  on  risk-preparedness  in  the  electricity  sector  (7 

70 As a PaM can contribute to multiple dimensions there is some double counting. 2050 PaMs have been indicated to 
contribute to 1 dimension, 729 to 2 dimensions and 252 to 3 or more dimensions. 

60 

 
 
 
 
PaMs), the Regulation on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas (4 PaMs) and the Union 
renewable energy financing mechanism (4 PaMs). 

Figure 30: Share of single policies and measures reported by Member States linked to the 7 most common 
Union policies. 

An  exploratory  analysis was  made  to  determine  to what extent  the  different types of  policies  and 
measures71 referred to in the Governance Regulation and its annexes could be readily identified in the 
progress  reports.  The  coverage  per  type  of  measure  is  very  diverse72,  as  for  all  Member  States 
measures related to the Energy Efficiency Directive can be identified, while for only one Member State 
measures “to assess, make transparent and reduce the need for must-run capacity that can lead to 
curtailment of energy from renewable sources” can be identified. It ranges from a Member State for 
which only 4 out of 53 types of measures could be identified, to a Member State for which 33 out of 
53 types of measures could be identified. 

3.1.2 Progress towards financing 
In 2023, the first call for proposals of the EU renewable energy financing mechanism was published. 
The call is based on the voluntary participation of Luxembourg as contributing country that pays 40 
million EUR into the mechanism, while Finland is the host country where solar PV projects with total 
capacity  up  to  400  MW  will  be  built  and  will  generate  renewable  energy.  For  the  next  15  years, 
Luxembourg and Finland will share the statistical benefits of the electricity that is produced by the 
supported projects. The Commission is in the process of organising the next call for proposals in 2024. 

In 2023 the Connecting Europe Facility and its window on renewable energy cross-border projects was 
implemented through two successful calls. Under the first call, two of the renewable energy cross-
border  projects  were  granted  support  for  studies  that  will  advance  the  cooperation,  namely  –  the 
offshore wind park ELWIND, developed between Estonia and Latvia, and the hydrogen value chain 
project CICERONE, developed between Spain, Italy, Netherlands, and Germany. 

71 Approximately 53 distinct types of measures are referred to in the Governance Regulation, of which 45 could be reliably 
identified through key-word searches. 
72 The limitations of the key-word searches and the fact that certain types of measures only have to be reported where applicable 
needs to be taken into consideration.  

61 

 
 
 
 
In  accordance  with  Article  17(2),  point  (a),  Article  21,  point  (b)(7)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1999 
Member States have to report information on progress towards financing the policies and measures, 
or group of policies and measures, including a review of actual investments against initial investment 
assumptions. 

Unfortunately,  some  Member  States  (Austria,  Italy,  Romania)  did  not  report  information  on  the 
financing  of  PaMs,  while  the  information  of  the  Member  States  which  reported  data  are  often 
incomplete or inconsistent. This lack of proper reporting on investment needs and funding sources is 
problematic because it fails to accurately identify funding needs and gaps, which is essential for sound 
strategic planning and implementation. It also does not make it possible to assess the effectiveness of 
public support and its impact on public finances. 

Overall,  the  most  important  data  gaps  related  to  the  actual  investments  made  and  appropriate 
accounting  of  the  source  of  the  funds  employed  (national  public,  European,  private  funds).  A  few 
Member States fail to report any support from the EU budget, which appears inconsistent with other 
information available at the EU central level, for instance on allocation from the Cohesion policy funds. 
Overall, the high level of incompleteness support does not allow to provide an actual division among 
national, European and private funds allocated by the Member States. 

In addition, it is not possible to compare the different Member States’ submissions as timelines for 
investment assumptions might differ. It is important to acknowledge that implementation periods of 
single PaMs reasonably differ because investment assumptions, especially when related to financial 
allocations  to  specific  national  financing  schemes/programmes  or  specific  investments,  are 
determined by national procedures determining budgetary allocation for the specific measure. In the 
framework of the next reporting cycle, it will thus be important to reflect on ways to increase the 
consistency and comparability of the reported information on financing. 

3.2 Reported effects and costs of policies and measures 
3.2.1 Indicators used to monitor progress on PaMs 
The role of an indicator is to better understand progress in implementing PaMs. 17 Member States 
reported indicators for at least one PaM. In total 750 indicators (537 quantified) where reported for 
466 PaMs. Ideally, the reporting of indicators should include the indicator description with a unit, the 
years,  and  values.  This  is  however  not  always  provided,  and  often  only  qualitative  information  is 
reported, i.e. the description and a unit, without quantitative data. 

3.2.2 GHG emission savings 
18 Member States reported quantitative ex ante savings for at least one year and at least one PaM. 
This has decreased from 23 Member States reporting such information in the 2021 reporting round. 
In total ex ante savings were reported for 521 PaMs. Expected (ex-ante) emissions savings from PaMs 
are important information to assess the progress to be expected from the planned or implemented 
measures,  although  there  is  no  specific  guidance  provided  on  methods  for  assessment  of  ex  ante 
impacts for reporting under Governance Regulation (or its  predecessor the Monitoring Mechanism 
Regulation). This makes comparison and aggregation of emissions savings particularly difficult. 

The total reported yearly savings amount to 407 Mt CO2-equivalent in 2025, 703 Mt CO2-equivalent in 
2030, 577 Mt CO2-equivalent in 2035 and 537 Mt CO2-equivalent in 2040. The reported savings appear 
to  be  incomplete,  considering  that  the  drop  after  2030  is  not  consistent  with  expectations  for 
increasing  savings  over  time.  Of  the  total  number  of  single  and  grouped  PaMs  reported  by  EU27 
Member States, 460 had ex ante emission savings reported for 2025 different from zero and 495 had 

62 

 
 
ex ante savings reported for 2030. For 2035 and 2040, reporting was less complete, with respectively 
435 and 373 single or grouped policies and measures. 

Figure 31: Number of policies and measures with ex ante emission savings in 2025 to 2040 (split between ETS, 
ESR, LULUCF and total). 

Figure 32: Reported expected emission savings in Mt CO2-eq. of policies and measures in EU Member States 
(split between ETS, ESR, LULUCF and total) 

63 

 
 
 
 
The reported emission savings are to a large extent reported for policies and measures belonging to 
the projection scenario with existing measures (WEM). This is not surprising considering that expired, 
implemented, or adopted policies and measure make up a large share of the reported policies and 
measures.  Nevertheless,  also  substantial  emission  savings  are  reported  for  planned  policies  and 
measures, with some included in the projection scenario with additional measures (WAM), but also a 
large share not (yet) included in a projections scenario (NIP). 

Figure 33: Reported expected emission savings in Mt CO2-eq. of policies and measures in EU Member States 
(split between WEM, WAM and NIP) 

Ex  post  emissions  savings  from  PaMs  are  essential  information  to  assess  the  effectiveness  and 
efficiency of national climate PaMs. In 2023, 7 Member States reported quantitative data on ex post 
emission savings. This is very incomplete compared to the reporting on ex ante emission savings. In 
total ex post savings were reported for 144 PaMs. 

In 2023, Member States had the opportunity to report as well ex-ante and ex-post effects of policies 
and measures on renewable energy production and energy efficiency, as well as projected and realised 
costs and benefits in these areas. Only three Member States (Belgium, Ireland, and Malta) reported 
these voluntary data. 

3.2.3 Impacts on air quality and emissions to air 
Member States are required to report, as far as possible, the impacts on emissions of air pollutants 
from the implementation of the policies and measures in their NECP, in projected future years. 

The extent to which Member States reported on these impacts varies strongly. While 3 Member States 
report impacts for (almost all their) PaMs, most cover a (much) smaller share of PaMs, and 4 Member 
States did not report impacts on air quality and emissions to air for any PaMs. 

Looking at the different pollutants: 

64 

 
 
 
•  For  NOx,  22  MS  reported  impacts  (6  only  qualitative).  For  12  MS  there  is  a  reduction  of 
emissions, while for the others the impact of proposed policies and measures on air pollutants 
is less clear (both in terms of size and direction of impacts). 

•  For  NH3,  19  MS  reported  impacts  (7  only  qualitative).  For  11  MS  there  is  a  reduction  of 
emissions, while for the other the impact of proposed policies and measures on air pollutants 
is less clear. 

•  For  PM2.5,  20  MS  reported  impacts  (7  only  qualitative).  For  12  MS  there  is  a  reduction  of 
emissions, while for the other the impact of proposed policies and measures on air pollutants 
is less clear. 

•  For  SO2,  17  MS  reported  impacts  (4  only  qualitative).  For  11  MS  there  is  a  reduction  of 
emissions, while for the other the impact of proposed policies and measures on air pollutants 
is less clear. 

•  For NMVOC, 17 MS reported impacts (5 only qualitative). For 12 MS there is a reduction of 
emissions, while for the other the impact of proposed policies and measures on air pollutants 
is less clear. 

•  Six Member States reported impacts on various other pollutants, e.g. on black carbon, dioxine, 

methane and PM10. 

Figure  34:  Number  of  policies  for  which  impacts  on  air  quality  and  emissions  to  air  are  reported.

65 

 
 
 
 
 
4 Regional cooperation  
Increased regional cooperation can bolster the EU’s energy union across its five dimensions. Most of 
the  Member  States  reported  on  their  progress  in  implementing  regional  cooperation,  with  most 
Member States  reporting some  progress in at least  one  of their regional cooperation initiatives or 
projects. Insufficient  information on progress  was  reported only  in some  cases, and in even fewer 
cases was no information reported at all. 

Reported regional cooperation projects or initiatives span across the five dimensions. Most reported 
projects relate to more than one dimension. The majority focus on energy security, internal energy 
market  and  decarbonisation,  with  fewer  projects  or  initiatives  related  to  energy  efficiency  and 
research,  innovation,  and  competitiveness.  Some  Member  States  report  cooperation  only  in  1 
dimension, while 5 Member States report cooperation in all five dimensions (Figure 35). 

Several Member States, for instance, report progress on the implementation of regional cooperation 
through regional forums such as the Pentalateral Energy Forum, a regional energy cooperation among 
Austria,  Belgium,  France,  Germany,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  and  Switzerland,  which  was 
created in 2005. This forum contributes to objectives related to energy security, an integrated internal 
energy market and decarbonising the economy, for instance through a study on system flexibility in 
the Penta region (incl. synergies from regional cross-border exchange of flexibility) and by working on 
implementing the risk preparedness regulation. 

Similarly,  several  Member  States  report  progress  through  their  activities  in  the  North  Seas  Energy 
Cooperation,  which  facilitates  the  development  of  the  offshore  grid  development  and  the  large 
renewable energy potential in the region. agreeing, for instance, to reach at least 260 GW of offshore 
wind energy by 205073  

Five  regional  groups  were  set  up  within  framework  of  the  EU  Energy  Platform.  The  Platform  was 
established  in  April  2022  to  support  the  EU’s  security  of  supply  and  access  to  affordable  energy, 
including international outreach, demand aggregation, and efficient use of EU gas infrastructures. The 
regional  groups  agree  on  action  plans  on  gas  demand,  including  potential  gas  demand  reduction, 
infrastructure opportunities and supply options. On 1st June 2022, for instance, the Regional Energy 
Platform for South-East Europe agreed on an action plan to diversify supply and bolster energy security 
due to the disruption of gas supplies from Russia. 

Some Member States also referred to strategies (e.g. the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Region 
and  the  Mediterranean  CCS  Strategic  Plan,  the  EU  Strategy  for  the  Baltic  Sea  Region  (EUBSR),  the 
Strategy  for  the  Danube  Region  (EUSDR))  as  well  as  to  the  preparation  of  joint  (regional)  risk 
assessment related to the security of natural gas supply (Ukrainian group and Belarusian group). 

Some  Member  States  highlighted  cooperation  on  market  integration  in  the  context  of  projects 
implemented by ENTSO-E (IGCC, MARI and PICASSO projects, CORE CCR and South-eastern Europe 
Regional  Security  Coordinator),  Interreg  programmes,  CEF  (e.g.  the  Baltic  Synchronisation  project) 
TEN-E initiatives as well as the SET roadmap and the TARES technical assistance project.  

Many Member States also reported about bilateral cooperation with other Member States as well as 
bilateral gas solidarity agreements or multi-countries Memorandum of Understanding. 

Some Member States reported about bilateral cooperation with non-EU countries (e.g. Croatia with 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania, or Greece together with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi 

73 220912_NSEC_Joint_Statement_Dublin_Ministerial.pdf (europa.eu) 

66 

 
 
 
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, USA and Italy with Tunisia, Switzerland and Montenegro) or multilateral 
in the frame of the Transatlantic Partnership for Energy and Climate Cooperation. Several references 
have  been  made  to  the  Union  for  the  Mediterranean  (Gas  platform,  Regional  Electricity  Market 
Platform and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Platform), the Organization of the Black Sea 
Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) - enhancing regional 
cooperations both among the EU Member States as well as with non-EU countries. 

Progress was also reported on the strengthening of cross-border infrastructure in electricity, gas and 
hydrogen (see also Section 2.4). Progress was for instance reported on the development of the Celtic 
Interconnector between France and Ireland, while a third interconnector between Estonia and Latvia 
has  become  operational  in  early  2021.  Similarly,  a  new  gas  interconnector  between  Poland  and 
Slovakia  was  inaugurated  in  August  2022.  It  was  also  reported  that  in  2021  the  planned  Melita 
TransGas natural gas pipeline between Malta and Italy was upgraded to become hydrogen ready. 

Figure 35: Regional cooperation initiatives as reported by MS, split by dimension. 

Notes: in case an initiative contributes to 2 dimensions, each dimension is counted for 0.5; where to 3 dimensions, each 
is counted for 0.33 etc. 

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5 Multilevel climate and energy dialogues 
Most of the Member States reported activities related to the set up of national multilevel climate and 
energy dialogue that they were required to set up, if not already in place, in line with the Article 11 of 
the  Governance  Regulation  -  in  which  local  authorities,  civil  society  organisations,  business 
community,  investors  and  other  relevant  stakeholders  and  the  general  public  should  be  able  to 
actively engage and discuss the achievement of the Union’s climate-neutrality objective and different 
scenarios envisaged for energy and climate policies, including for the long term, and review progress. 
Integrated  national  energy  and  climate  plans  may  be  discussed  within  the  framework  of  such  a 
dialogue. 

Various levels of maturity of the dialogue can be identified. Some have been in place for several years 
and are well established such as the Energy Efficiency Platform in Germany or Austria, which highlights 
the National Climate Change  committee, established since 2017, which meets annually, and which 
discuss and supports the co-ordination of climate change related measures, gathering representatives 
of the relevant federal ministries, federal provinces and local government, representatives of social 
partners as well as from science, energy and industry interest groups, environmental NGOs and the 
political parties represented in the first chamber of the  Parliament.  Other Member States indicate 
processes that are only in place since 2022 or in the process of being set up. Several Member States 
(Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, and Romania) specifically indicate that such dialogues are being set-up in their 
countries  through  the  NECPlatform74  project,  funded  by  the  LIFE  Clean  Energy  Transition  sub-
programme. 

Some  Member  States succeeded in putting their process in perspective,  highlighting the regularity 
(and  sometimes  the  permanence)  of  the  initiatives,  qualifying  and  quantifying  the  activities,  the 
outcomes and the impacts reached (Germany, Netherlands).  

Inclusion of local authorities has been a strong focus for several Member States (Italy, France) but is 
not prominent in most Member States. In France, the Climate and Resilience Act of 2021 mandates 
the  creation  of  Regional  Energy  Committees  with  representatives  of  the  State,  local  authorities, 
energy companies and civil society organisations active in the field of energy and climate, as well as 
approved environmental protection associations. France also reports on the various consultations and 
public  debates  organised  over  the  last  years  in  the  context  of  the  French  Energy-Climate  Strategy 
including a “tour de France des régions” and a “youth forum”). 

Several  Member  States,  however,  did  not  sufficiently  describe  their  multilevel  climate  and  energy 
dialogues: some do not refer, for instance, to the periodicity of the activities reported, the long-term 
perspective, the active engagement process with the local authorities or with key stakeholders etc. 
Some only list punctual consultations or events without explaining the overall approach or how the 
initiatives listed are interlinked. Other Member States stated that they set-up multilevel climate and 
energy dialogues without describing sufficiently the parties involved nor the processes put in place 
(Czech Republic, Slovakia). Member States are encouraged to better define the quality and the impacts 
of  the  dialogues  and  to  demonstrate  the  active  engagement  of  the  parties  involved.  They  are 
encouraged to explain how the views expressed in these consultations have been considered. 

74 The NECPlatform project, funded by the LIFE Clean Energy Transition programme, brings together six Member States 
(Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal and Romania) and provides for the creation of platforms (in the 6 partner states) 
for multilevel dialogue on climate and energy. 

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Overall, Member States refer to engagement with most of the actors listed in the Article 11. Not all 
the  Member  States  described  sufficiently  how  the  local  authorities  have  been  involved.  Only 
Luxembourg reported involving investors. 

Many Member States limited the scope of the multilevel climate and energy dialogue to the NECPs 
development process, while the Regulation seeks for a more comprehensive framework, referring to 
the ‘different scenarios for energy and climate policies including the long term’. 

9 Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) also 
reported about public consultations (Article 10 of the Governance Regulation) that have been put in 
place (or will be organised) on their integrated energy and climate plans, without putting them in the 
perspective of the set up of multilevel energy and climate dialogues. 

69 

 
 
 
 
6 Conclusion and lessons learnt  

•  Progress towards the Union's 2030 targets for energy and climate 

In 2022, despite the EU’s continuing economic recovery, with GDP growing by 3.5% on yearly basis, 
the EU greenhouse gas (GHG) net emissions declined by 3%, continuing the overall downtrend of the 
past 30 years. However, the pace of emission reduction needs to pick up, to almost triple the average 
annual reduction achieved over the last decade, to achieve the EU’s 2030 GHG reduction target (i.e. -
55%) and the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality objective. EU Member States’ aggregated projected GHG 
emissions also fall significantly short of medium and long-term EU climate objectives, even when both 
existing and additionally planned measures are considered. 

In 2021, the EU reached a share of 21.8 % of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, a 
slight reduction compared to 2020 (22%), which can be explained to a large degree by a higher overall 
energy consumption as economic activity picked up following the lift of COVID restrictions. In absolute 
terms, the consumption of renewable energy increased by approx. 5% compared to 2020, with 220 
804 Mtoe compared to 209 595 Mtoe the year before. 

In 2021, primary energy consumption in the EU was 1311 Mtoe, around 6% higher than in 2020, most 
probably affected by the COVID-19 crisis recovery but remained lower than in 2019. However, PEC 
and  FEC  values  are  still  far  away  from  the  2030  PEC  and  FEC  targets.  The  absolute  final  energy 
consumption  in  2021  has  declined  in  18  Member  States  since  2005,  while  in  8  Member  States  it 
increased. In 2021, all Member States have experienced increases in total final energy consumption 
compared to 2020. 

Based on the received data75, in 2021, 7 Member States76 (IT, FR, IE, CY, EL, ES, RO) were below the 
2030 interconnection target, with 4  (IT,  IE, CY,  ES) also remaining below the  2020 interconnection 
target.  Overall,  Member  States  have  made  good  efforts  to  increase  cross-border  capacity  and  the 
completion  of  various  Projects  of  Common  Interest  should  further  improve  the  interconnectivity 
levels. Still further efforts required to meet the 2030 objectives, in particular in terms of timely delivery 
of the planned cross-border projects. 

Overall, the assessment shows that substantial ambition and implementing efforts are still needed to 
deliver on the 2030 increased Union’s objectives. 

•  The reporting, review, and assessment process 

2023 was the first year in which the progress on the implementation of the integrated national energy 
and climate plans was reported and assessed in an integrated manner. The fact that the reporting 
was done through an e-platform, based on templates laid down in an implementing regulation77, and 
with  additional  reporting  guidelines  to  Member  States,  contributed  substantially  to  simplify  the 
reporting  process  and  increase  the  comparability  of  data,  facilitating  the  subsequent  review  and 
assessment. 

At the same time, still more can be done to further improve the comparability and understanding of 
the reported data to strengthen the subsequent assessment, e.g., by further aligning with other data 

75 Since Member States used their own data sources the calculation might not be fully consistent between them. 
76 Cyprus and Ireland currently have no electricity interconnection with other EU Member States. 
77  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2022/2299  of 15  November  2022  laying down  rules  for  the  application  of 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the structure, format, technical details 
and process for the integrated national energy and climate progress reports. 

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collection  processes,  refining  and  simplifying  the  reporting  templates,  further  improving  reporting 
guidelines, and exchanging best practices. 

This  work  should  be  picked  up  in  the  preparation  for  the  next  reporting  cycle  in  2025,  with  the 
continued  assistance  of  the  European  Environmental  Agency  and  in  consultation  with  the  Energy 
Union Committee and Climate Change Committee and their working groups related to reporting. The 
Commission will also consider further streamlining in the upcoming review pursuant to Article 45 of 
the Governance Regulation. 

Additionally, the current reporting obligations in the Governance Regulation and its implementing acts 
as well as the reporting guidelines to Member States will need to be aligned with the evolved energy 
and climate acquis which resulted from the Fit for 55 package and the relevant REPowerEU initiatives. 

71