The EU is currently working towards a target set in the 2001 Renewable Energy Directive of 12% of energy from renewables by 2010, including 22% of electricity. To reach the targets, the directive set each country a non-binding national target for renewables, but with the proviso that if the Commission felt it necessary, it could take action against countries that fell short of their goals. "The Commission needs to decide what it will propose for the period after 2010," says EWEA's Christian Kjaer.
EWEA would like to see the national targets for 2010 be made mandatory and the Commission setting mandatory national targets for 2020. In its submission, the association highlights the need for competition in energy markets through, among other measures, increased interconnection and full unbundling of transmission and generation. It also supports the Commission's proposals for a Europe-wide energy regulator to look at cross-border issues and a single European grid which could accommodate offshore wind power.
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs indicated in October that he was thinking along the same lines as EWEA. Referring to the Renewable Energy Road Map, he said: "I believe in a target-based approach and I believe it should be ambitious and should include sectoral targets."