Commitments of the European Union

Climate and Energy Framework 2030

As part of the Green Pact for Europe, the European Union has set itself the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and has committed to reducing its net emissions by at least 55% in 2030 compared to 1990.

To achieve this objective, the European Commission published a package of legislative proposals in July 2021 called "Fit for 55" . These proposals include the revision of the Effort Sharing Regulation, the revision of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the establishment of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM, see glossary), the creation of a social climate fund, the revision of the land use and forestry regulation (LULUCF, see glossary), the revision of the regulation on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans, as well as more ambitious 2030 sectoral targets than those currently defined in the revised Climate and Energy Action Framework in 2018:

• reduction of at least 55% of net GHG emissions compared to 1990 (instead of the current 40%);
• increase of the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption to 40% (currently 32%);
• reduction of at least 36% in final energy consumption and 39% in primary energy consumption compared to the Baseline 2007 scenario (see glossary) - (currently 32.5% in primary and final energy)

These proposals are the subject of extensive negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. Their final adoption is expected in the second half of 2022 or the first half of 2023.

Share of renewable energy in Member States' gross final energy consumption

Source: I4CE, based on Eurostat, 2022

GHG emission trends in the EU-27and trajectory of the 2020 and 2030 targets

Note: the blue arrow corresponds to the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, the green arrows correspond to the 2020 and 2030 targets and the red arrow corresponds to the new target set by the"Fit for 55" package.
Source: I4CE, based on Eurostat, EEA and European Commission, 2022

Evolution of primary energy consumption in the EU-27and trajectory of the 2020 and 2030 objectives

Note: the blue arrow corresponds to the evolution of current energy consumption compared to the 2007 reference scenario, the green arrows correspond to the 2020 and 2030 targets compared to the 2007 reference scenario and the red arrow corresponds to the new target set by the "Fit for 55" package.
Source: I4CE, based on Eurostat and European Commission, 2022

Effort sharing and revision of the 2030 framework

The two instruments used to reduce EU GHG emissions are the Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS, see p. 82) and the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), which sets national reduction targets for sectors outside the EU ETS. The 2030 target of at least a 40% reduction in GHG emissions compared to 1990 was translated into a target of -43% compared to 2005 for the EU ETS, and -30% compared to 2005 for other sectors.

With the adoption of the EU's new target of a net 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, the new targets proposed in the "Fit for 55" package have been increased to -61% for the sectors covered by the EU ETS and -40% for the other sectors.