3 report on the State of the Energy Union and Annex 1: Updated Energy Union roadmap; Annex 2: Policy observations; Annex 3: State of play of preparations on national energy and climate plans; Annex 4: Progress in Accelerating Clean Energy Innovation; 28 Member States Energy Union fact sheets 3rd list of Projects of Common Interest Infrastructure Communication (on the implementation of the 15% electricity interconnection target) Energy Efficiency Progress Report Report on the functioning of the European carbon market Report on the Covenant of Mayors Trends and projections report of the European Environment Agency Study on Residential ...[+++]Energy Prosumers

Welcomes the Commission communication of February 2016 on an EU strategy on heating and cooling, but highlights the lack of progress and low targets set for renewable use in heating and cooling, in particular in buildings; stresses the great potential for continued progress in renewable use in heating and cooling; notes that the heating and cooling sector accounts for half the EU’s final energy consumption and therefore plays a key role in achieving the EU objectives on climate and renewable energy resources; recognises the benefits of increasing renewable energy in the heating and cooling sector; stresses the increased flexibility of thermal infrastructure and storage in facilitating the integration of variable renewable sources by sto ...[+++]ring energy in the form of heat, offering excellent returns on investment and providing opportunities for enhancing quality local employment; calls on the Commission to bridge the regulatory gaps in the post-2020 renewables legislative package; reiterates that efforts in the heating and cooling sector hold great potential for increased energy security (given that 61 % of gas imported into the European Union is used in buildings, mainly for heating purposes), for example through the development of district heating/cooling networks, which are an efficient means of integrating sustainable heat into cities on a large scale, since they can simultaneously deliver heat derived from a range of sources and are not inherently dependent on any one source.

His Worship Billy Joe MacLean, Mayor of Port Hawkesbury, President, Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities: I would like to thank the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources for inviting the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities to provide a perspective on the role of municipalities in developing community energy systems, and to outline some of the challenges and barriers we face in implementing these systems.

Unless we can make domestic energy more competitive, in the next 20 to 30 years around 70 % of the Union’s energy requirements, compared to 50% today, will be met by imported products – some from regions threatened by insecurity.

The risks associated with the fact that the Union is, structurally, highly dependent on imported fossil fuels are further exacerbated by the political instability prevailing in many producer countries.

The electricity imports follow the first of this year's deliveries of oil under the European Union's Energy for Democracy Programme.