Ad Hoc Expert Group on Rural Energy, including the Utilization of Energy in Agriculture

Joint Statement on Clean Development and Use of Energy

Ad Hoc Expert Group on Industrial Issues Including Utilization of Energy in Transportation and Allied Sectors

energy utilisation

peaceful use of atomic energy | peaceful use of nuclear energy | peaceful utilisation of nuclear energy | use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes

energy-saving technology

‘(k) ‘support scheme’ means any instrument, scheme or mechanism applied by a Member State or a group of Member States, that promotes the use of energy from renewable sources by reducing the cost of this energy, increasing the price at which it can be sold, or increasing, by means of a renewable energy obligation or otherwise, the volume of such energy purchased; this includes, but is not restricted to, investment aid, tax exemptions or reductions, tax refunds, renewable energy obligation support schemes including those using green certificates, and direct price support schemes including feed-in tariffs and premium payments; support sch ...[+++]emes shall not distort the markets in raw materials of other manufacturing sectors in which the same raw materials are traditionally used’.

(k) ‘support scheme’ means any instrument, scheme or mechanism applied by a Member State or a group of Member States, that promotes the use of energy from renewable sources by reducing the cost of that energy, increasing the price at which it can be sold, or increasing, by means of a renewable energy obligation or otherwise, the volume of such energy purchased. This includes, but is not restricted to, investment aid, tax exemptions or reductions, tax refunds, renewable energy obligation support schemes including those using green certificates, and direct price support schemes including feed-in tariffs and premium payments;

3 Underlines the numerous benefits of smart grids in terms of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the share of renewable energy and distributed generation, ensuring the security of supply to households, creating the conditions for efficient use of electricity in transport, giving consumers the ability to adapt their consumption to benefit from the lowest prices and at the same time save energy, improving energy efficiency, saving electrical power, reducing costly investments in electricity grids by using energy outside peak periods, boosting EU technology innovation and development, encouraging consumers to become ‘prosumers’ who produce their own energy and sell the surplus back on the market or receive credit for their surplus e ...[+++]lectricity, and making use of net metering; points out, also, that the development and use of smart grids greatly reduces energy loss during transmission and distribution; points out that automatic grid reconfiguration can be used to prevent or restore outages (self-healing capabilities); stresses, therefore, the importance of taking into account their position at the intersection of energy and environmental policies by undertaking a general review and rationalisation of the legislation and existing objectives;

21. Notes that the cooperation mechanisms introduced by Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources have, to date, not yet been very much used, but that a number of cooperation schemes are being planned; points to the Commission’s findings indicating that better use of the existing scope for cooperation could bring considerable benefits, such as boosting trade; welcomes the Commission’s declared intention to draw up guidelines on cooperation within the EU, which set out how the cooperation mechanisms should work in practice and outline the challenges involved and ways of tackling them; calls on the Commission to ensure that EU guidelines are implemented by the Member States; calls on the Commission ...[+++]to include and interpretation of Art. 13 of the RES directive (2009/28/EC) to ensure that Member States implement the directive correctly and prevent public authorities from using certification and licensing procedures in a manner that distorts competition; calls on the Member States to subsequently make better use of the cooperation mechanisms where appropriate and also increase communication between one another;