CELEX: 51992PC0180
Language: en
Date: 1992-06-29
Title: Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the promotion of renewable energy sources in the Community (ALTENER programme)

No C 179 /4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   16 . 7 . 92
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the promotion of renewable energy sources in the
                                             Community — (Altener programme)
                                                         (92 /C 179/04)
                                                      COM(92) 180 final
                                        (Submitted by the Commission on 20 May 1992)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                          Whereas, under Article 130r of the Treaty, action by the
                                                                   Community relating to the environment should improve
                                                                   the quality of the environment and ensure a prudent and
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              rational utilization of natural resources, objectives which
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s                 are furthered by the use of renewable energy sources ;
thereof,
                                                                   Whereas the development of renewable energy sources
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 can make a significant contribution to the reduction of
                                                                   polluting emissions arising from the consumption of
                                                                   fossil fuels ;
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,
                                                                   Whereas the development of renewable energy sources
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases and the
Social Committee,                                                  danger of global warming ; whereas, therefore, wide­
                                                                   ranging international cooperation is desirable in order to
                                                                   obtain significant results ;
Whereas on 29 October 1990 the Council set the
objective of stabilizing CO2 emissions in the year 2000 at
their 1990 levels ;                                                Whereas on 9 June 1988 the Council adopted a recom­
                                                                   mendation confirming in detail its desire to pursue a
                                                                   policy of developing the exploitation of renewable
Whereas in its communication to the Council concerning             energy sources in the Community (2) ;
a Community strategy to limit carbon dioxide emissions
and to improve energy efficiency (') the Commission
indicated the action the Community should take to limit            Whereas, when reviewing the progress made towards
CO2 emissions ;                                                    achieving the energy objectives for 1995 (J), the Council
                                                                   stated in its conclusions of 8 November 1988 that it
                                                                   attributes particular importance to new and renewable
Whereas on 13 December 1991 the Council invited the                energy sources for future energy supplies ;
Commission to put forward formal proposals for
measures as part of a Community strategy;
                                                                   Whereas the promotion and wider use of renewable
Whereas the objective of stabilizing CO2 emissions                 energy sources throughout the Community are likely to
cannot be achieved without a significant increase in the           strengthen its economic and social cohesion, as called for
contribution of renewable energy sources tQwards the               by Article 130a of the Treaty ;
energy balance ;
                                                                   O OJ No L 160, 9. 6 . 1988 , p. 46 .
(') SEC(91 ) 1744 final, 14. 10. 1991 .                             (3) OJ No C 241 , 25 . 9 . 1986, p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- 16 . 7 . 92                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 179 / 5
Whereas, to this end, it is necessary to set Community                — sectoral actions, as referred to in Annex II ;
objectives and make provision for resources to further
the attainment of such objectives, taking into account the
particular conditions in each Member State,
                                                                 (c) measures to foster the creation of an information
                                                                      network aimed at promoting better coordination
                                                                      between national, Community and international acti­
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :                                           vities through the establishment of appropriate means
                                                                      for exchanging information, and at evaluating the
                                                                      impact of the various actions provided for in this
                                                                      Article ;
                          Article 1
Member States shall endeavour to contribute in their
                                                                 (d) industrial pilot actions relating to energy from
energy and environment policies to the limitation of                  biomass, and in particular the production of biofuels
carbon dioxide emissions by achieving the objectives                  and biogas and the use of short-rotation coppices
relating to renewable energy sources set out in the table             and C4 plants.
in Annex I.
                                                                                           Article 4
                          Article 2
                                                                 1.    All costs relating to the actions referred to in
1 . The Community shall support a series of actions to           Article 3 (a) shall be borne by the Community.
promote renewable energy sources within the context of
the Altener programme (specific actions for greater
penetration for renewable energy sources), hereinafter
referred to as 'the programme'.                                  2. The level of Community funding for the actions
                                                                 referred to in Article 3 (b) and (c) shall be between 30
                                                                 and 50 % of their total cost.
2.      The programme shall last five years .
                                                                 In exceptional cases duly justified to the committee
                                                                 referred to in Article 6 (2), Community funding may
3 . The budget authority shall determine the appropri­           exceed the 50 % limit, while not exceeding 60 % .
ations available for each financial year, taking into
account the principles of sound management referred to
in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the
general budget of the European Communities.                      3 . The level pf Community funding for the actions
                                                                 referred to in Article 3 (d) shall not exceed 30 % of their
                                                                 total cost.
                           Article 3
Four categories of actions on renewable energy sources           4 . The balance of the funding of the actions referred
shall be financed under the programme, namely:                   to in Article 3 (b), (c) and (d) may be made up from
                                                                 either public or private sources or from a combination of
                                                                 the two .
(a) studies and technical evaluations for defining
     technical standards or specifications ;
                                                                                           Article 5
(b) measures to support the Member States' initiatives            1 . The Commission shall establish guidelines for the
     for extending or creating infrastructures concerned         support measures referred to in Article 3 (b), (c) and (d)
     with renewable energy sources. These initiatives shall      each year, in consultation with the committee referred to
     include :                                                   in Article 6 (2).
     — training and information activities with regard to        2. The proposed initiatives referred to in Article 3 (b)
          renewable energy sources at a level as close as         and the list of national, regional or local bodies which
          possible to operators and the final consumers of       are to implement these projects shall be submitted
          energy,                                                 annually by the Member States to the Commission,
 ---pagebreak---  No C 179 / 6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                       16 . 7 . 92
which shall decide on the level and conditions of                         The Commission shall take the utmost account of the
Community funding according to the procedure referred                     opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform the
to in Article 7 . The Commission shall sign contracts                     committee of the manner in which its opinion has been
relating to these support measures with those bodies.                     taken into account.
                            Article 6                                                                 Article 8
 1 . The Commission shall be responsible for the                          1 . During the third year of the programme, the
implementation of the programme.                                          Commission shall present a report to the European
                                                                          Parliament and to the Council on the basis of the results
                                                                          achieved. The report shall be accompanied by proposals
2.    The Commission shall be assisted by an advisory                     for any amendments which may be necessary in the light
committee, hereinafter referred to as 'the committee',                    of these results .
composed of the representatives of the Member States
and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
                                                                          2 . On the expiry of the programme, the Commission
                                                                          shall assess the results obtained, the application of this
                            Article 7                                     Decision and the coherence of national and Community
                                                                          actions. It shall present a report thereon to the European
As regards the measures referred to in Article 3 (b), (c)                 Parliament and to the Council .
and (d), the representative of the Commission shall
submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be
taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the                                                Article 9
draft, within a time limit which the chairman may lay
down according to the urgency of the matter, if                           This Decision shall apply from 1 January 1993 to
necessary by taking a vote.                                               31 December 1997 .
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes ; in                                                    Article 10
addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
to have its position recorded in the minutes .                            This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
                                                                ANNEX I
                       Objectives for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by developing renewable energy sources
              A reduction of 180 million tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions can be achieved in 2005 by :
             A. increasing renewable energy sources ' contribution to the coverage oftotal energy demandfrom nearly 4 % in
                 1991 to 8 % in 2005.
                 To achieve this objective, the production of renewable energy sources should rise form nearly
                 43 million tonnes in 1991 to approximately 109 million tonnes in 2005 ;
              B. trebling the production of electricity from renewable energy sources (excluding large hydroelectric power
                 stations).
                 To achieve this objective, the capacity and electricity production of all power stations (excluding
                 hydroelectric power stations above 10 MW) using renewable energy sources should rise from 8 GW
                 and 25 TWh in 1991 to 27 GW and 80 TWh in 2005 ;
 ---pagebreak--- 16 . 7 . 92                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                     No C 179 / 7
            C. securing for biofuels a market share of 5 % oftotalfuel consumption by motor vehicles.
                 The production in 2005 of 11 million tonnes of biofuels on an agricultural area of approximately
                  7 million hectares will be necessary in order to achieve this objective.
            NB: In the energy balances on which the formulation of objective A above is based the electricity
                    produced from the various alternative sources is accounted for in accordance with the conventions of
                    the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
                                                                   ANNEX II
                Illustrative, non-restrictive list of sectoral actions, as referred to in the second indent of Article 3 (b)
            1 . Pilot actions aimed at introducing a 'guarantee of solar results' in the market for solar collectors and
                 solar water heaters .
            2 . Pilot actions relating to vehicle fleets aimed at introducing biofuels in place of petroleum products in the
                 transport sector.
            3. Pilot studies on integrated resource planning and demand-side management.
            4. Pilot projects on third-party financing within the framework of the European network for third-party
                 financing (without direct Community funding).
            5 . Guarantee of financial risks, in particular those arising from the geological uncertainties surrounding the
                 development of geothermal resources.
            6. Establishment of local plans for the development of renewable energy sources.
            7. Establishment and development of infrastructures in the Member States for offering investors assistance
                 with the drawing up of pre-feasibility studies.