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Ahead of the Informal Energy Council on 16 July 2024, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe has written to Europe’s Ministers for Energy regarding the upcoming key priority areas of the Hungarian presidency. The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU will focus on key topics such as the National Energy and Climate Plans, electricity systems, and competitiveness. It is crucial that the policies and measures are set in a participatory, sustainable, and just way towards a fossil-free, socially just and climate neutral European Union.

We as signatory organisations to this letter ask you to invite and encourage Member States to update their national long-term strategies, and to provide guidance to them on how best to do so. We also ask you to prepare an update to the EU’s own Long Term Strategy, for submission to the UNFCCC...

Member States are required under the Governance regulation 2018/1999 to report all their energy subsidies and the phasing out plans of all fossil fuel subsidies in their respective National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). In particular the final NECPs should fulfill what is reported in section 3.1.3. (iv) of the regulation: “Where applicable, national policies...

In light of the Commission’s recent Assessment report of the draft updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and the Commission’s ongoing bilateral discussions with Member States, we (undersigned: the Together for 1.5 Consortium, 14 civil society organisations from across Europe) would like to express our concerns regarding the NECP revision process. In line with the ESABCC’s key recommendation, we urge the Commission to intensify its efforts and – if necessary – employ enforcement measures to decisively prompt Member States to address the shortcomings of the NECPs.

The window to stay within the critical 1.5°C global warming threshold, to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis and fulfil the Paris Agreement commitment, is rapidly closing. Postponing decarbonisation is no longer a viable option; the years from now until 2030 are crucial. This was confirmed once more by the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), whose recent progress report calls on Member States to “urgently adopt and implement national measures to increase the pace of emissions reductions and reverse the declining EU carbon sink”. The report mentions that an ambitious revision of NECPs will be crucial in that regard.