Renewables: slow progress means France remains on collision course with EU Commission

4 months ago 21

France achieved a 22.2% share of renewable energy in its gross final energy consumption in 2023, according to the French Ecological Ministry figures from 7 May, but the trend is not sufficient for the country to reach a target of at least 44% renewable energy by 2030, as set by EU law.

France’s share of renewable energy in its final gross energy consumption in 2023 was up 1.9 points on 2022, driven by an increased consumption of renewables (+5.6%) and a reduction in overall energy consumption (-2.6%) – a trend that has been maintained for several years, the ministry noted.

European targets

Although the ministry is satisfied with the figures, they fall short of the targets set for France in European legislation.

For 2020, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) set an overall target of 20% renewable energy in the 27 EU member states’ gross final energy consumption. Given France’s then higher-than-average renewable energy capacity, the target was 23%.

This means that in 2023, France has still not reached its 2020 target.

Since 2022, the government has announced a number of measures to accelerate the development of renewable energies. The latest is the announcement of a timetable for offshore wind power by 2035 and 2050, and the acceleration of administrative procedures.

On Wednesday (May 15), President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Normandy to inaugurate the 500 MW offshore wind farm off the department of Fécamps.

While the moves will help France to significantly increase its deployment of renewable energy, the government still categorically refuses to accept the EU’s 2030 target.

Revising governance for unattainable target

According to the government, the renewables target set for France is not necessary to meet the ultimate objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Paris argues that this can also be achieved with the contribution of its fleet of nuclear power plants.

For this reason, in December 2023, the then energy minister, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, along with colleagues from 10 other member states, called for a review of how the global EU renewable targets is distributed between member states.

“The target of 42.5% [of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030] is unattainable as it stands”, a source close to the case, who had worked at the French Energy Ministry during the negotiations, told Euractiv on condition of anonymity.

France refuses to include any ‘renewable’ objective in its national energy-climate plan (NECP) submitted to the European Commission, defying the European executive’s recommendations.

Contacted by Euractiv, the European Commission’s spokesperson said the updated NECP must be returned by 30 June 2024, “taking into account the Commission’s recommendations”.

Possible penalties?

The consequences for France of missing its 2020 targets remain unclear.

For the moment, the government, through Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, has insisted that “France will not pay any penalties”, even though the procedure may require it to do so.

However the Energy Ministry official acknowledged that the next European Commission could sanction France. “If not, this would call into question its credibility,” the source confided.