Commission's renewable energy proposal adopted by Parliament
The European Parliament has adopted an amended report by the MEP Mechtild Rothe on the European Commission's proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market. The report, adopted on 16 November 2000, stresses that renewable energies form an effective strategy for environmental protection, and would help the EU to achieve the Kyoto targets. It refers to the 1997 Commission White Paper, which indicated that the EU's dependence on energy imports will rise from the current level of 50 per cent to 70 per cent in 2020 if no appropriate measures are taken. Parliament agrees with the Commission proposal that a general framework for promoting electricity from renewable energy sources must be established at Community level, but that detailed implementation should be left to Member States in order to allow each State to choose the regime that corresponds best with its particular circumstances. The Parliament wishes to see the Commission attempting to harmonise the existing national support schemes for the use of renewable energy, but wants to ensure that these schemes can be preserved for at least 10 years from the date on which this directive enters into force. Parliament also repeats the target set out in the 1997 Commission White Paper for renewable energy sources to make up 23.5 per cent of total energy consumption within the EU by 2010 instead of the 22.1 per cent stipulated in the Commission proposal. As a final point, Parliament emphasised that Member States should ensure that electricity from renewable energy sources is not disadvantaged by the imposition of transit fees, or impeded by technical requirements.