EU energy and climate package adopted

On 6 April the Council of the European Union formally adopted the six legislative texts that make up the energy and climate package that was tentatively agreed between the Council and the Parliament last December.

The package consists of:

• A directive establishing a revised European emission trading scheme (ETS). Emissions from larger stationary sources are to be reduced by 21% from 2005 to 2020.
• A decision on effort sharing, which sets out how much each member state shall reduce its emissions of GHG in sectors not covered by the ETS directive. An overall reduction of 10% should be achieved between 2005 and 2020.
• A directive on renewable energy, with a target of a 20% share of renewables in total energy consumption by 2020.
• A directive on carbon capture and storage.
• A directive on fuel quality setting a target of a 10% reduction in GHG emissions from the production cycle of transport fuels by 2020, of which only 6% is binding.
• A regulation limiting CO₂ emissions from new passenger cars. Average emissions should come down to 130 grams of CO₂ per kilometre by 2015. There is also a non-binding long-term objective of 95 g/km, to be attained by 2020.

Information: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ climat/climate_action.htm