(Un)fit for 55! Ohne eine verschärfte Governance-Verordnung sind die Klimaziele 2030 nicht zu erreichen

Abstract

The European Commission's “Fit for 55” package of July 2021 provides for a significant increase in renewable energy and energy efficiency targets in the European Union (EU). However, the EU’s competences in the energy sector are severely limited and subject to sovereignty. Already in 2018, the EU adopted a Governance Regulation that provides for a hardening of the otherwise only soft governance in the areas of renewable energies and energy efficiency due to the lack of European competences. It is intended to ensure that the Commission's recommendations for improving national energy and climate plans are implemented by the member states. An analysis of the quality of implementation of these recommendations now shows that this has a positive effect in areas with harder soft governance but still needs improvement. Increasing the targets of regulatory action cannot be successful without revising the Governance Regulation and hardening soft governance along with it. Otherwise, the EU is not fit for its 55 percent target in 2030.