The European Commission decided on Thursday to send reasoned opinions to Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Romania for failing to fully transpose EU rules on promoting the use of renewable energy in Directive (EU)2018/2001, is shown in a release of the EU Executive.

This directive provides the legal framework for the development of renewable energy in the EU’s electricity, heating and cooling and transport sectors.

The directive sets a binding EU target for 2030 of at least 32% of renewable energy and includes measures to ensure that support for renewable energy is cost-effective, as well as simplifying administrative procedures for renewable energy projects.

It also facilitates citizens’ participation in the energy transition and sets specific targets for increasing the share of renewable energy in the heating and cooling sector and in the transport sector by 2030. In addition, it strengthens the criteria for ensuring the sustainability of bioenergy. The deadline for transposing that directive into national law was June 30, 2021.

In July 2021, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to all those Member States. To date, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania have failed to provide the Commission with clear and precise information on the national provisions transposing each provision of the Directive, and Cyprus, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg have only partially notified the measures transposing the Directive.

Those states now have two months to comply with the transposition obligation and to notify the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.