June 2014: The European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES) released its ‘EU Tracking Roadmap 2014,’ which aims to report progress toward the EU goal of providing for at least 20% of its energy consumption needs with renewable energy sources (RES) by 2020. The 2014 edition finds that RES can expect only a 17.9% share by 2020 at the EU level under current policy frameworks.

The report uses two scenarios through 2020, employing the Green-X model, to determine the feasibility of reaching the EU goal. While the business-as-usual (BAU) case results in the EU falling short of its target, the policy recommendations (PR) pathway finds that the EU could reach 21% RES in its final energy consumption with changes and additions to current policies.

The six primary recommendations included in the report for this latter scenario are: adopt ambitious binding targets for 2030 at the EU and national levels for renewable energy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; ensure predictable and stable policy environments at the national level, avoiding any retroactive changes to policy support; increase the focus on sectors particularly dependent on policy support (e.g. renewables for heating, cooling and transport); revise State guidelines on environment and energy aid to be consistent with the EU’s RES Directive; re-establish a policy framework for RES in transport; and continue to focus on removing administrative barriers.

In addition to analyzing the EU as a whole, the report breaks down figures by member State and indicates which members are anticipated to reach their expected contribution toward the target. Overall, nine member States are expected to reach their target. For each State, the report contains a section analyzing barriers to RES deployment and providing tailored recommendations for that state.

EUFORES is an independent, non-profit, cross-party network of members of the European Parliament and the EU national Parliaments. The network promotes turning good practices in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable development into coherent policies. [EU Keep On Track Press Release] [Publication: EU Tracking Roadmap 2014: Keeping Track of Renewable Energy Targets Towards 2020] [Keep On Track Publications Webpage]