Regulation 2022/869 - Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 152/45

The Commission, in its communication of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’ (the ‘European Green Deal’), set out a new growth strategy that aims to transform the Union into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, where the climate neutrality objective is met by 2050 at the latest and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. In its communication of 17 September 2020 entitled ‘Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition – Investing in a climate-neutral future for the benefit of our people’, the Commission proposed to increase the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to at least 55 % by 2030. That ambition was endorsed by the European Council on 11 December 2020 and the impact assessment accompanying that communication confirms that the energy mix of the future will be very different from the one of today and underpins the necessity to review and if necessary to revise the energy legislation. The current energy infrastructure investments are clearly insufficient to transform and build the energy infrastructure of the future. That also means infrastructure needs to be in place to support the European energy transition, including rapid electrification, scaling up of renewable and fossil fuel free electricity generation, the increased use of renewable and low-carbon gases, energy system integration and a higher uptake of innovative solutions.

The current binding Union level target for renewable energy for 2030 of at least 32 % of final energy consumption and a headline Union level target for energy efficiency of at least 32,5 % will be revised as part of the Union’s enhanced ambition enshrined in the Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and the Council (4) and the European Green Deal.

The Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (5) (the ‘Paris Agreement’) sets out a long-term goal to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1,5 °C above pre-industrial levels, and stresses the importance of adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. On 12 December 2019, the European Council endorsed the objective of achieving a climate-neutral European Union by 2050, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) lays down guidelines for the timely development and interoperability of priority corridors and areas of trans-European energy infrastructure in order to achieve the energy policy objectives of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to ensure the functioning of the internal energy market, security of supply and competitive...