REPORT on SURVEY on National Energy and Climate Plans

The report was done using the method of semi-structured interviews in the following countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and Denmark, and the EU level.

The interviews were conducted in the local languages, by partners in the respective countries and then transcribed into English. Transcripts were then coded and correlations between the subjects have been noted. All countries received the same set of questions with instructions as well as the same instruction on the participants that should be included in the interview process.
In all countries interviewees should have been from civil society organisations (2), the business sector (2), trade unions (2) (if not relevant stakeholder group in the country, then one more respondent from the business sector and one more national decision-maker should have been included), local authorities (2), and national decision-makers (2).

The interviews were conducted from January to March 2023. The part of the survey with the questions related to NECPs were answered reflecting on 2019 NECPs and not the revised documents from June 2023.

When discussing climate policies at the EU level, stakeholders who participated in the survey identified the need for behaviour and societal change as a top priority. One stakeholder emphasised: “The main priority is to achieve climate neutrality, which requires a much more inclusive transition – in social, economic, political terms – in order to make the best decisions and policies.” While another adds: “We need to have citizens onboard with this change, to find a good balance between imposing some rules and supporting them throughout these changes […]. We’re far from it because we’re taking a top-down approach – we’re not relying enough on citizens to make their own changes.

Stakeholders are concerned that the change needs to happen equally on the EU political level as it needs to be implemented on national and local levels. The fact that the EU adopted the European Green Deal and released the “Fit for 55 package” must not be taken as the end of the transition process but as the mere beginning of the long process of transformation of European society into a climate-neutral one.