The 2020 package is a set of laws passed to ensure the EU meets its climate and energy targets for the year 2020.
The package sets three key targets:
The targets were set by EU leaders in 2007 and enacted in legislation in 2009.
The EU is taking action in several areas to meet the targets.
The EU emissions trading system is the EU's key tool for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale facilities in the power and industry sectors, as well as the aviation sector.
The ETS covered around 40% of total EU emissions (excluding international aviation) in 2019.
In 2020, the target is for the emissions from these sectors to be 21% lower than in 2005.
These targets cover the effort sharing sectors (i.e. non-ETS and non-LULUCF) – accounting for some 60% of total EU emissions (excluding international aviation) in 2019 – such as:
EU countries have taken on binding annual targets until 2020 for cutting emissions in these sectors (compared to 2005), under the "effort sharing decision".
The targets vary according to national wealth – from a 20% cut for the richest countries to a maximum 20% increase for the least wealthy (although they were still projected to have to make efforts to limit emissions) by 2020.
Progress is monitored by the Commission every year, with each country required to report its emissions.
EU member countries have also taken on binding national targets for raising the share of renewable energy in their energy consumption by 2020 under the Renewable Energy Directive.
These targets also vary, to reflect countries' different starting points for renewable energy production and their ability to increase it – from 10% in Malta to 49% in Sweden.
The overall effect will enable the EU as a whole to reach:
The EU supports the development of low carbon technologies for example through the:
Measures for increasing energy efficiency are set out in the Energy Efficiency Directive.
Achieving the goals of the 2020 package should also help
The views expressed in the studies below are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.