The EU Legal Frameworks - The Sustainability of Renewable Energy in Europe - page 9

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2010 2020 (1)

Fig. 1.2 Share of RES (%) in EU gross final energy consumption, 2010 and 2020. (1) Legally
binding targets for 2020. RES renewable energy sources, EU European Union. (Source: Eurostat
2014 )

take into account efforts already made by the member states which have increased
the share of fuels from RES in recent years.
With regard to electricity, the European Commission estimates that RES might
rise from 15 % in 2009 to 35 % in 2020. The promotion of EU electricity production
from RES takes place in a market that is increasingly competitive. Based on the ex-
periences of liberalization of the electricity market in the world, the EU's objective
is to achieve greater efficiency and lower consumer prices through the introduction
of competition, although it is rather difficult for firms to produce energy from re-
newable sources to compete in the energy market based primarily on energy from
fossil fuels.
The liberalization of the electricity market may appear as a partial response to
climate change as it allows consumers to purchase cleaner electricity directly from
suppliers; however, the majority of consumers are not willing to pay higher prices
for electricity from renewable sources as they are burdened by higher prices in order
to preserve a public good (i.e., clean air), all of which benefit (Bigerna and Polinori
2014 ).
Overall, the efforts of member countries in achieving the objectives of the pack-
age have already led to important results. The situation has now changed radically
since the end of 2008: the reduction of GHG and the RES' objective among the
package are the area in which the goals have already almost been achieved in 2013;
things are less well with regard to the 20 % improvement in energy efficiency and
the EU is much below the target. Even with the third goal away from reaching in
2020, the European Commission has adopted the new proposals by 2030 (compared
to 1990).