Brussels urges Spain and 25 other countries to adopt new rules to accelerate renewables
Brussels – The European Commission announced this Thursday the opening of proceedings against almost all member states of the bloc, including Spain, for not yet adopting the new club rules to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, according to a statement from the institution.
EU partners had until May 21 of this year to incorporate most of the provisions of this directive adopted in 2023 into their national legislations, except for those related to the acceleration of permits, which had an even earlier deadline (July 1, 2024).
The community executive reported that only Denmark has complied with this schedule so far and has therefore sent a letter of formal notice to the other 26 EU member states, the first step in European infringement procedures that could ultimately end up before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
The directive in question aims to “accelerate the deployment of renewable energy across all sectors of the economy,” but “not only in the electricity sector but also, and especially, in those sectors where it is more complicated,” such as heating and cooling, buildings, transport, and industry, the European Commission argues.
Brussels emphasizes that this regulation is “instrumental” in boosting the production of renewable energy within the EU in order to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to “strengthen the energy security of the bloc.”
The community executive also argues that these new rules “will help lower energy prices and strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy.”
The warned member states now have two months to respond to the community authorities, who could issue an ultimatum to countries whose responses are unsatisfactory before taking the final step of bringing the matter before the court based in Luxembourg. (July 24, 2025)
