Seven EU member states missed an end-of-2018 deadline to submit draft energy and climate plans to the European Commission, which are essential to the bloc’s overall targets for 2030, as well as commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
All 28 EU members had until 31 December 2018 to hand in their plans to the EU executive to have their efforts audited and checked against the bloc’s new clean energy laws, including energy efficiency and renewable energy uptake.
But sources have revealed that Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and Spain are yet to turn in their homework.
Although expected to be turned in shortly, the final deadline for the plans is 31 December 2019 but the Commission will look into the nitty-gritty of the draft efforts, so the institution can make recommendations by June.
Member states were provided with a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) template in order to harmonise the process but among the plans that have been submitted on time, many of the texts lack the required information.
Germany is among those to have turned in patchy plans, according to German media, who have seen a copy of Berlin’s 140-page-long effort which is reportedly only “provisional”.
