Austria and Bulgaria Received Reasoned Opinions from the European Commission for Non-Transposition of the Renewables Directive

Austria and Bulgaria have on 27 September 2012 completed the list of EU Member States that have received a Reasoned Opinion from the European Commission for non- or incomplete transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The sending of a reasoned opinion is the second stage in the infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU, and the last one before the Commission decides to refer the Member State to the Court.

The press release from the Commission (MEMO/12/708) does not precise which provisions of the directive the Commission estimates not being transposed. Nevertheless, it seems clear that the Commission is eager to use its powers to ensure a timely and correct implementation of the directive by the Member States in order to meet the common target of 20% of renewables in the overall energy consumption in 2020. Indeed, except Denmark, all the other Member States have received some form of infringement notice by the Commission for non-communication of national transposition measures for Directive 2009/28/EC (see table here, as of June 2012).

There are now 11 Member States that have received a reasoned opinion for non-transposition of the directive: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Poland and Slovenia.