Clean Energy for all Europeans package

The Clean Energy for all Europeans package, in short, referred to as the Clean Energy Package (CEP), is a set of eight legislative acts on the energy performance of buildings, renewable energy (RE), energy efficiency (EE), governance and electricity market design. The European Commission published its initial proposal for the package in November 2016; that is why it was also nicknamed the Winter Package at that time. The package was completed by the publication of its final texts in the Official Journal of the European Union in June 2019.

The CEP is the fourth package of its kind. Unlike the previous energy packages, it does not include specific legislation for the gas sector, for which a separate new gas package is foreseen to be proposed in 2020. The CEP builds further on the energy policy framework set by the Third Energy Package and paves the way for a gradual transition away from fossil fuels and towards a carbon-neutral economy. More specifically, the CEP updates the following EU targets for 2030:

• 40% cut in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990 levels;
• 32% for renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU’s energy mix;
• 32.5% energy efficiency target, relative to a baseline scenario established in 2007.

What was there before the Clean Energy Package?

The chronology of the energy packages legislations preceding the Clean Energy Package:

• The First Energy Package contained two Directives; the first Electricity Directive 96/92/EC adopted in 1996 and the first gas Directive 98/30/EC adopted in 1998. The Package laid down provisions for the liberalisation of the internal market for electricity and gas. Management and accounting unbundling of national transmission system operators (TSOs) were required. Member States had to transpose these Directives into national law by 1998 and 2000 respectively for electricity and gas.
• The Second Energy Package was adopted in 2003 and contained two Directives and one Regulation; the second electricity Directive 2003/54/EC, the second gas Directive 2003/55/EC, and Regulation (EC) No 1228/2003 on conditions for access to the network for cross border exchanges in electricity. The Package continued the liberalisation of the internal market for electricity and gas, enabling, for instance, industrial and domestic consumers to choose their own gas and electricity suppliers freely. The Second Package required the Member States to create national regulatory agencies (NRAs) that are independent of the electricity industry.
• The Third Energy Package was adopted in 2009 and contained two Directives,  the electricity Directive 2009/72/EC and the gas Directive 2009/73/EC, and three Regulations, Regulation (EC) No 713/2009 establishing an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges and Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks. The Third Energy Package also set rules for opening and improving competition in retail markets.