The 1960s in the EU were characterised by a focus on the nation state level. A push towards energy cooperation was triggered by the oil crises in 1973/74. As a consequence, in 1974 the “Council Resolution concerning a new energy policy strategy for the Community” was passed, which was shortly after enhanced with energy goals for 1985. With this the Council not only emphasised the added value of close coordination among member states to tackle energy problems, but also adopted guidelines concerning energy supply (promotion of nuclear energy, hydrocarbon and solid fuels in the Community; diversification) and energy demand (using energy more rationally). Over the following years the issue of environmental protection became more prominent in Europe, but this did not yet translate into European legislation, especially as climate change was not yet high on the agenda. Advancement of common energy policies usually came via economic routes, though this changed slightly with the inclusion of environmental protection into the Single European Act in 1987. The focus, however, still lay on economic objectives, such as the completion of the Internal Energy Market. This tendency was underlined when the Commission failed in their attempt to include a separate energy chapter into the “Treaty of Maastricht” in 1992. Several Member States, especially those that had fairly high own reserves, vetoed this proposal as they did not want to give away autonomy in that field. The vague “measures in the spheres of energy” that were included, did not make effective foundations for legislation, and the reference to grids was too specific for general energy legislation. The progress made, namely the directives on the electricity and gas internal market (1996 and 1998) were based on internal market and environmental regulations of the Treaties. Neither the “Treaty of Amsterdam” (1999) nor the Treaty of Nice (2003) brought major advances for a common energy policy. Therefore the important energy regulation in the years after, such as the Renewables Directives (2001 and 2003) and the introduction of emissions trading in 2005 were based on environmental regulation.
EU heads of state and governments endorsed the first EU “energy action plan” in March 2007. Following a series of discussions over the previous years, the Commission’s “An energy policy for Europe” strategy marks the beginning of a more integrated European energy policy, which gained considerable momentum since then. The action plan laid out the three major challenges for European energy policy, which form the core of the common energy policy till today: sustainability, security of supply, and competitiveness. In order to reach these goals the commission also laid out quantifiable targets. Only two months later the reply came in form of the Council Conclusions. In its “action plan 2007-2009” the Council adopted (and slightly altered) many of the Commission’s proposals, among them the famous – and catchy – “20/20/20” targets, which defined European energy policy in recent years. These targets refer to three 20% goals, to be reached until 2020. The action plan was complemented with changes in EU legislation shortly afterwards: the Lisbon Treaty finally included a title on energy.
After some intense legislative developments since 2007, currently several strategy papers are defining energy developments on EU level, the most important ones being: “Energy 2020. A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy” and “Energy Roadmap 2050”, the latter published at the end of 2011. “Energy 2020” is a long-term energy strategy published by the Commission in November 2010. It builds on the “energy action plan” of 2007, but states that this strategy is unlikely to achieve the 2020 targets, let alone the longer term challenges, especially the emission cuts of up to 95% by 2050. Therefore it aims at providing new tools to achieve the 2020 goals. The Commission hopes to pave the way for energy legislation by pointing the direction with its strategy papers. “Energy 2020” emphasises the urgent need to act in order to not only restructure the energy market in the EU and reach the climate targets, but also to stay competitive in the future. In order to meet the challenges, the Commission estimates investment needs of 1 trillion Euro, especially for (re-)building infrastructure.
In 2014, negotiations about binding EU energy and climate targets until 2030 are set to start. European Parliament voted in February 2014 in favour of binding 2030 targets on renewables, emissions and energy efficiency: a 40% cut in greenhouse gases, compared with 1990 levels; at least 30% of energy to come from renewable sources; and a 40% improvement in energy efficiency.