The EU has adopted an overall target of producing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, broken down into different targets for each country and taking as a basis their level in 2005.
Bulgaria's target is 16%, the Czech Republic and Hungary's is 13% and Slovakia's is 14%, while for Poland and Romania the targets are 15% and 24% respectively.
It was recently decided that the burden of cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be shared by means of a complicated mechanism, compensating Eastern European countries for their earlier efforts to cut down CO2 emissions (during the period following the collapse of their heavy industries after the fall of communism) with allowances to be auctioned.
Most East European countries appear opposed to the proposal to move beyond the 20% greenhouse gas emission target. For the time being, only the European Commission has analysed this option.
Poland calls for more time
Regarding Poland, which is the largest of the EU newcomers and relies heavily on coal, officials say the country needs ''more time than others'' to meet its CO2 reduction targets outlined in the 'Europe 2020' strategy (20% renewables in the EU's energy mix and 20% fewer greenhouse gas emissions by 2020).
Polish Environment Minister Andrzej Kraszewski said he was generally in favour of ambitious reduction quotas, but stressed his belief that Poland ''needs more time than others'' to meet them.
The minister proposed that anti-climate change provisions should be adopted "less uniformly," explaining that 94% of Poland's electricity comes from coal and thus more attention should be devoted to developing clean coal technologies.
Kraszewski was particularly critical of 'Europe 2020' for proposing a possible increase in emission cuts to 30%. He believes that such an option should only be considered if similar reduction plans are adopted by the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, like the US and China.
Otherwise, the European economy will become less and less competitive, he warned (for more details, see EurActiv 24/06/10).
Bulgaria favours nuclear to reach target
In Bulgaria, the poorest country in the EU and its most energy-intensive economy, industry representatives have labelled the 20/20/20 targets "unrealistic".
According to the Sofia government, burden sharing on emission reduction targets still needs to be agreed in case the Union decides to move to a 30% target. There is still no such burden-sharing between member states, said Milia Dimitrova, director of climate change policy at the Bulgarian Environment Ministry.
Dimitar Brankov, deputy president of the Bulgarian Business Association (BBA), said the new schemes for emissions reduction would mostly affect the energy sector – and more specifically thermal power stations, some of which would close.
According to Brankov, alternatives such as photovoltaic installations or wind farms are very expensive, so he called for the country to develop further nuclear capacities that will provide an opportunity for low-carbon development at the lowest cost to society. However, the EU does not consider nuclear energy as a renewable source (for more details, see EurActiv 25/06/10 and Dnevnik 25/06/10).
Romania sticks to 20% goal
Romanian President Traian Basescu declared recently that his country was not supportive of the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30% by 2020, and would prefer the targets to remain at 20%.
"We will support remaining at the initial EU objectives. It's easy to understand why. We are a country that develops and, anyway, the 20-20-20 objective is difficult enough and costly for Romania," said Basescu.
Indeed, government officials say that the 20% objective is attainable. Alexandru Sandulescu, general director at the Economy Ministry, confirmed this and said: "At the moment there is a national action plan to promote renewable energies, which should have been communicated by the end of July."
Slovakia lacks comprehensive action on EU climate and energy package
In Slovakia, the former government led by Robert Fico declared the targets of the 'Europe 2020' strategy to be "illusionary". Although the country in general supports common climate and energy policies at EU meetings and plays a constructive role, it lacks a comprehensive approach to the implementation of the EU's legislative package on climate and energy at national level, EurActiv Slovakia reported.
In its 'National Action Plan for Renewables' presented to the European Commission, Slovakia confirms the target of producing 14% of its energy from renewables, mainly from biomass and biogas. This is described as the most cost-effective way of reaching the CO2 reduction targets by 2020.
Under the new government led by Iveta Radičová, the policymaking culture in Slovakia could change, experts say. A controversial decision to dissolve the Environment Ministry at the end of Fico's term – in order to make savings – sent a signal that the environment is not among Slovakia's top priorities.
The new government of Radičová, however, has decided to keep the Environment Ministry in place. It remains to be seen which ministry will coordinate the implementation of the EU's climate and energy package and other EU legislation affecting climate change, emissions and related energy issues (for more details, see EurActiv 01/07/10).
Czech Republic strives to exceed target
In the Czech Republic, the government has said it can reach its national renewables target by 2020 and even exceed it.
Jana Chloubová from the government's press department argues that the Czech government can exceed the 13% national renewable goal by 2020, citing a target of 13.5%. ''We will support renewables until our commitments are fulfilled. You cannot just speak about minimum renewables support,'' Chloubová said. ''All the renewables business associations agreed with the allocation of a 13% quota between the renewables sectors [biomass, wind, solar, etc],'' she added.
Energy efficiency appears to be the key word, as the Czech Republic intends to reduce its dependency on imports of gas from Russia and coal mining.
In particular, the Czech Environment Ministry advocates building low-energy houses under the framework of a 'Green Savings' programme. The Czech Republic has raised funds for this programme by selling emission credits under the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions. The expected overall allocation for the programme is up to 25 billion Czech crowns: just over €970 million (for more details see EurActiv 30/06/10).
Hungary eyes energy efficiency
In Hungary, meeting the 20/20/20 target is seen as a reachable goal, not by decreasing production like in the past, but by promoting renewable energy and boosting energy efficiency. According to experts, it is in the country's best interests to improve its energy efficiency and reduce its consumption, not least due to the country's huge reliance on imported energy – around 70%.
Hungary's energy consumption trends reveal a less favourable picture than the EU average. Although total energy consumption fell by almost 10% between 1990 and 2004, the proportion of gas consumption grew by 30%, mainly for district heating.
Like in the Czech Republic, experts said that renewable energy could help Hungary to reduce its dependency on imports, provided that it modernises its buildings. Experts also warned that the energy mix should be determined on the basis of professional criteria, and not by lobbyists (for more details see EurActiv 12/07/10).
