Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

Late in the night came the news of an agreement between the EU heads of state and government on a new climate and energy framework for 2030 . A need for mid-term commitments An agreement on post-2020 EU climate and energy strategy was deemed necessary in order to ensure predictability for energy technology investors, developers and industrial operators as regards mid-term commitments. Indeed, the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC may foresee a post-2020 roadmap in 2018, stakeholders have been repeatedly asking for clarification as to the situation after 2020 as soon as possible. 

After the European Parliament rejected the first appointed candidate to the position of the Commission Vice-President for Energy Union , Ms. Alenka Bratu še k (Slovenia), a new candidate has been proposed, Mr. Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia). The European Parliament will be proceeding to the confirmation hearing of Mr. Šefčovič today (20 October) at 19.00 Brussels time . The hearing can be watched live here . The new Mission Letter to the Vice-President-Designate can be accessed here .   A quick look at his CV  makes clear that he is an experienced EU politician and administrator. It will now be interesting to know more about his stances on EU energy policy and what a "resilient EU energy policy" (the new motto of the forthcoming Commission) should induce.   References : Press release, "The Juncker Commission: Maroš Šefčovič proposed as Vice-President for Energy Union, Violeta Bulc as Transport Commissioner ", IP/14/1163, 15.10.2014. Hearing...

Report 3/2014 The Norwegian Climate Foundation ( Norsk Klimastiftelse ) published a new report on the current energy transition processes experienced by the European countries and EU climate policy. The report is available here.   As part of the report, I published an article on the currently debated Law proposal on energy transition for green growth in France , reviewing the terms of the debate and the core provisions of the proposal. An extended version of the article is available here (in Norwegian).   References : Klimapolitikk i krysspress , Rapport nr. 3/2014, Norsk Klimastiftelse. Die Energiewende made in France: la transition énergétique , av Catherine Banet, 14 October 2014, Energi og Klima nettmagasin.

  Sirkulær økonomi og norsk energisystemet er tema til mitt innlegg i Energi og Klima Nettmagasinet under tittelen:   "Sirkulær økonomi: Snart på dagsorden også i Norge?"   " Norge har andre behov for energiomlegging enn mange andre land, men må likevel følge med i timen når det handler om utviklingen av et mer ressurseffektivt samfunn – en sirkulær økonomi.  De fleste land som har startet en prosess for energiomlegging ... " les resten av saken her ENGLISH VERSION   Circular economy and the Norwegian energy system are the topics of a chronicle I wrote for the Norwegian webmagazine Energy & Climate. I question when and how the concept of circular economy can be introduced in Norway. Read the full teks (in Norwegian) here .

On 6 October 2014 , the European Parliament will be hearing the Vice-President designate for Energy Union . The two committees responsible for the hearing are the ENVI and ITRE. You can watch the hearing online  here . The session will start at 14.30 Brussels time . The Energy Union portfolio has been offered to Alenka Bratu š e k , former Slovenian Prime Minister. In his mission letter to the appointed candidate, Commission president-elect Juncker gave her the following areas of responsibility (emphasis added):

Finnish prime minister, Alexander Stubb, paid an official visit to France this week (3 October 2014). Energy was among the topics discussed between the French and Finnish heads of state and government. Both nations have a high share of nuclear power in their electricity production , France with approximately 75 percent and Finland with 30 percent. Both countries are concomitantly pushing for the development of the sector for renewable energy .  This similarity in energy mix is motivating the two countries to submit a joint declaration ahead of the European Council scheduled on 23-24 October  to defend their vision of the diversification of energy sources and reduced reliance on foreign energy supplies .