European Commission takes action against member states for failing to speed up permitting procedures

So far, only Denmark has notified full transposition into national law of the agreed provisions of the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED) related to the simplification and acceleration of permitting procedures.

The commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the 26 other EU member states for failing to do so within the required timescale.

The revised RED entered into force in November 2023 and certain provisions had to be transposed into national law by 1 July 2024.

The provisions contain measures to simplify and accelerate permitting procedures both for renewable energy projects and for the necessary infrastructure projects to integrate the additional renewable energy into the electricity system.

They also include clear time limits for permit-granting procedures targeted to specific technologies or types of projects, the strengthening of the role of the single contact point for applications and the presumption that renewable energy projects and the related grid infrastructure are of overriding public interest.

The commission is now sending letters of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

They now have two months to respond and complete their transposition. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the commission said it may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Earlier this month, WindEurope again warned that grid bottlenecks, continuing issues with permitting in many countries and challenging financial conditions mean wind power buildout is falling below governments’ ambitions.

“Governments need to act urgently to apply the EU permitting rules and ensure the grids connections are ready on time,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.