Dear EU islands community,
Welcome to 2023!
We all are aware that islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change, while at the same time, they enjoy a naturally high potential for renewable energy sources to harness. Many islands have abundant renewable energy potential, which can be tapped to lead to decarbonisation. This access to reliable, clean and competitive sources of energy remains a main concern to EU island communities and at the same time presents unique opportunities to become leaders in the clean energy transition.
While it is often technically and financially possible to develop renewable energy projects on islands, EU, national, regional and local legal and regulatory frameworks are not always fit-for purpose. We have produced a set of studies on the regulatory barriers and recommendations for clean energy transition on EU islands for seven Member States: Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. The studies builds on the Regulatory inventory of legal and regulatory national frameworks that support clean energy development for 15 Member States, available online on our website.
These studies contain overviews of existing and emerging legal, regulatory and policy frameworks that foster the development of local decarbonised energy systems on EU islands. Moreover, they identify priority regulatory and policy barriers to the clean energy transition on the islands and formulate concrete recommendations to overcome them. The process of study preparations included regular communication and collaboration with relevant stakeholders from national, regional and local level of the relevant Member State, shaping recommendations in line with their strategic planning and ambitions.
While published separately, the studies are combined into one comprehensive EC study which provides a consolidated analysis of barriers and recommendation common for all analysed Member States and provides recommendations for EU wide measures as well. Some of the proposed recommendations align with REPower EU, which is underlined in the study. Further work on the uptake of the recommendations is not only at EU level, but also with national, regional and local stakeholders. The study was presented to the public on 23 January 2023, where the main barriers and recommendations will be discussed. The results of the study can help the EC and Member States to focus on the priority actions to further enable and accelerate the energy transition of EU islands.
