CELEX: 51987PC0432
Language: en
Date: 1987-09-28
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION TO THE MEMBER STATES ON DEVELOPING THE EXPLOITATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN THE COMMUNITY

No C 279/6                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   17.10.87
              Proposal for a Council recommendation to the Member States on developing the exploitation of
                                         renewable energy sources in the Community
                                                       COM(87) 432 final
                              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 30 September 1987)
                                                         (87/C 279/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            Whereas in the present state of the technology the
                                                                    sources offering the most practical development
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               prospects in the short and medium term are solar,
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                   geothermal and wind energy, biomass and energy
thereof,                                                            from waste and hydroelectricity, especially low power
                                                                    installations;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                    Whereas the Commission plans to draw up sectoral
                                                                    proposals for covering each of these sources at a later
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                   date, which will include the principles governing the
liament,                                                            contractual relations between producers of electricity
                                                                    generated from renewable energy sources and public
Whereas in its resolution of 16 September 1986 on new               electricity suppliers,
Community energy policy objectives for 1995 and the
convergence of the policies of the Member States the                HEREBY RECOMMENDS MEMBER STATES:
Council adopted the objective of continuing the
development of new and renewable energy sources and
                                                                      1. to introduce legislation and administrative pro-
of increasing their contribution to the total energy
                                                                         cedures, or adapt existing provisions, in the manner
balance;
                                                                         needed to overcome the obstacles to developing the
                                                                         exploitation of renewable energy sources;
Whereas in its resolution of 26 November 1986 on a
Community orientation to develop new and renewable                    2. to pursue, including the continuation of present
energy sources the Council requested the Commission to                   efforts, research and demonstration programmes,
present proposals to develop the exploitation of                         and periodically assess and adapt them in the light of
renewable energy sources in the Community;                               technological developments;
                                                                      3. to complete national inventories of renewable energy
Whereas these sources are indigenous and their
                                                                         resources and disseminate these inventories as widely
exploitation has a favourable effect for the diversification
                                                                         as possible at regional and local level;
and security of the Community's energy supply and for
the development of less favoured regions;                             4. to promote cooperation among industries producing
                                                                         equipment for the exploitation of renewable energy
Whereas the development of renewable energy sources                      sources;
requires appropriate legislative, administrative and
financial measures;                                                   5. with a view to the completion of the internal market,
                                                                         to comply with the information procedures laid
                                                                         down by Directive 83/189/EEC (J) in respect of
Whereas the optimum exploitation of these energy                         draft standards and technical rules for renewable
sources in the Community must be pursued taking                          energy exploitation equipment. On the basis of these
account of their economic prospects and their availability               procedures, the Commission will examine the
in the Member States;                                                    question of whether to propose common rules for
                                                                         the certification of equipment for the exploitation of
Whereas at Community level the efforts to develop these                  renewable energy sources should there be any
sources must be made profitable, the measures launched                   obstacles to their free movement in the Community;
must be mutually compatible and the results and
experience gained must be widely disseminated;                        6. to ensure that the contractual terms governing
                                                                         supplies to the distribution companies of electricity
                                                                         generated by private producers from renewable
Whereas, with a view to completion of the internal
                                                                         energy sources are such as to encourage the
market, cooperation among industries producing
                                                                         exploitation of those sources;
renewable energy exploitation equipment must be fa-
cilitated, together with the extension of the markets;
                                                                    (3) Council Directive (83/189/EEC) of 28 March 1983 laying
O O J N o C 241, 25. 9. 1986.                                            down a procedure for the provision of information in the
(2) OJNoC316, 1. 12. 1986.                                               field of technical standards and regulations.
 ---pagebreak--- 17.10.87                                Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 279/7
 7. to provide for measures for financial support                      bases; to assist the Commission in fully completing
    towards feasibility studies for projects to exploit                the Community data base SESAME on projects
    renewable energy sources, in particular for local                  carried out under national and Community
    authorities and small and medium-sized enterprises;                programmes;
 8. to establish, in accordance with its resolution of 26
                                                                   10. to devise and launch a statistical survey system for
    November 1986, in Member States where they do
                                                                       renewable energy sources in collaboration with the
    not yet exist, public advisory bodies to prepare
                                                                       Statistical Office of the European Communities;
    feasibility studies and for assembling technical and
    financial packages for projects to exploit renewable           11. to communicate regularly to the Commission the
    energy sources; such bodies should also lay                        measures taken or planned in the field covered by
    particular emphasis on informing the public about                  this recommendation and the effects obtained or
    the practical possibilities of exploiting these sources            expected from these measures; in this context the
    and about the environmental aspects;                               Commission will from time to time, on its own
 9. to facilitate the exchange of information concerning               initiative or at the request of a Member State,
    the development of renewable energy sources                        organize meetings for the exchange of information
    between Member States and at Community level, in                   at Community level in order to ensure that the
    particular by agreements for access to national data               measures are mutually compatible.