ABSTRACT
Following the EU ambitions to become a climate neutral continent by 2050 and the need to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, the Union has to strengthen its efforts to accelerate renewable energy deployment and financing instruments are crucial for achieving this objective. The role of this article is to trace changes introduced by the EU with regard to the renewable energy and its financing instruments together with the factors that have stimulated or hindered their development. The study also tries to indicate opportunities connected with recently adopted instruments in particular Union renewable energy financing mechanism. The article is based on an analytical model supported by comparison and statistical methods. In conclusion, it is underlined that the main positive effect of new financing instruments lies in facilitating a more cost-effective deployment of renewable energy across the EU, in areas that are better suited for it in terms of natural resources.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. It should be noted though that in 2019 the Commission adopted the European Green Deal (Citation2019), where it presented very high EU climate ambitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% (compared to 1990) by 2030 and become a climate neutral continent by 2050. These targets were approved by the European Council in December 2020 which opened the way for new activities of the Commission, including a proposal for amending the Renewable Energy Directive 2018. It seeks to increase the target 32% to at least 40% of renewable energy sources in the EU’s overall energy mix by 2030. This target was changed to 45% in the REPowerEU Plan and its final level (40 or 45%) is still under discussion (the European Commission and the European Parliament support the 45% objective while some of the Member States back only the 40% target).