The 100% Renewable Energy Action Plan for the next European Commission

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung is the German Foundation linked to the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grüne) and is a think tank for green visions and projects. In cooperation with Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe), have convened a group of over 20 experts from academia, industry, civil society and policy-makers from EU institutions to identify the key challenges of the EU’s energy transition. The expert group met five times in 2023 to develop proposals on how to achieve a 100% renewable energy-based EU economy. In the 100% Renewable Energy Action Plan for the next European Commission, the expert groups delivered three key policy recommendations:

1. Accelerating renewable energy deployment
2. Putting in place the right infrastructure and flexibility for 100% renewables
3. Enabling local authorities to manage the transition to 100% renewables

Especially in the third paragraph, the report highlights the inadequacy between EU policies and the needs of local authorities engaged in the energy transition and the importance for the EU to help regional and local authorities to realize the benefits of the energy transformation. The authors come up with three additional policy recommendations on this point:

• Widen the access to the Just Transition Fund to all regions that want to engage.
• Refocus EU cohesion policy on delivering the energy transition and realizing its benefits for less affluent regions.
• Improve the financing available to local authorities through the Energy Communities Facility