EURELECTRIC welcomes ESD proposal – Value of Electricity recognized in Commission low-emission mobility strategy

News Article

EURELECTRIC welcomes the publication of the legislative proposal to revise the Effort Sharing Decision (ESD) by the European Commission. We believe that together, with the proposal to revise the EU ETS, it maintains the EU on track towards the decarbonisation of the European economy following the successful outcome of the Paris Climate Change Summit last year.

“For Europe to succeed in addressing the climate change challenge, decarbonisation needs to take place throughout the whole economy,” said EURELECTRIC Secretary General Hans ten Berge. “In its ability and commitment to become carbon‐neutral by 2050, the electricity industry can lead the drive to decarbonise Europe. The revision of the Effort Sharing Decision provides an excellent opportunity to further enhance the role of decarbonised electricity in replacing the direct use of fossil fuels, including in the non-ETS sectors.”

The legislative proposal tabled earlier today by the European Commission includes national targets for EU Member States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in those sectors of the economy not falling under the EU ETS covering the period 2021-2030. It was accompanied by a Commission Communication on a European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility as well as a legislative proposal on how to integrate the land use sector into the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework.

EURELECTRIC recognises the proposal’s enhanced use of flexibility instruments under the non-ETS sectors which can help introduce efficiency to GHG reductions in Europe. However, we believe that these must be designed in a manner that will have limited impact on the EU ETS and ensure predictability to the market. The modalities for any flexibility instrument must also ensure that fair and efficient distribution of effort, as well as environmental integrity, are maintained across both the ETS and non-ETS sectors. In this context we welcome the clarity in the proposal on the new one-off flexibility mechanism that allows eligible Member States to facilitate the achievement of their ESD targets through a limited cancellation of EU ETS allowances. 

Regarding the Commission’s Communication on a European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility, EURELECTRIC strongly welcomes the Commission’s renewed recognition of the important role that electricity will play in decarbonising the transport sector. As the energy transition leads to a much cleaner, interactive and customer-friendly power system we believe that a key part of the solution to this challenge is the fuel switch to electricity.

With electricity becoming increasingly low carbon, replacing fossil fuel based systems with electric technologies will provide a promising pathway to achieve low-emission transport in Europe. We also support the Commission’s recognition that the transition to cleaner transport will lead to significant improvements in air quality, noise pollution as well as benefits to consumers.

In this regard, Hans ten Berge stressed that: “The time has come to recognise the many positive effects a fuel switch to electricity in the non-ETS sectors can imply when it is paralleled with the decarbonisation of the power sector.” He added that “As the power sector delivers increasingly decarbonised electricity to consumers, electro-mobility becomes the obvious choice for driving low-emission transport. EURELECTRIC believes that it is high time that the electrification of transport becomes a prominent part of EU policy.”

The Commission’s Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility identifies a number of actions that will be necessary to achieve this, including measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of the transport system, speeding up the deployment of low-emission transport, and the shift towards zero-emission vehicles. In particular, EURELECTRIC welcomes the Commission’s recognition of the importance of linking the transport and energy systems as well as the importance of rolling out the necessary infrastructure for alternative fuels, including electricity.

If deployed and managed well, electro-mobility and particularly private cars fuelled by electricity, can at the same time also provide support to the decarbonisation of the power sector. As technologies evolve, electrifying final energy consumption could increase energy storage opportunities. The use of electric vehicle batteries or electric appliances as flexible demand and decentralised energy storage allow higher renewable penetration and increase the reliability of electricity supply. We welcome that these issues are recognised in the Communication and believe that these must be taken into account in future policy and legislative initiatives. 

EURELECTRIC looks forward to further discussions on the decarbonisation of the European transport sector and stresses the need to translate this Strategy into concrete and ambitious action, as an effective contribution to the EU’s climate and energy objectives.

Over the coming weeks EURELECTRIC will analyse these publications and will issue a detailed reaction on these.