Context reveals that France has indicated to the European Commission that it is aiming for 35% renewable energy in its final energy consumption by 2030 instead of the 44% required by a 2018 directive.
France is not ready to satisfy the European executive on the field of renewable energies. For several years, France has been waging a standoff with Brussels, having failed to achieve the objectives set in 2009 of having 23% renewable energies in its final energy consumption by 2020.
Paris was again criticized in December by the European Commission for having submitted a draft “National Integrated Energy Climate Plan” (Pniec) setting a target of 33% renewables by 2030 instead of the 44% required by a 2018 directive.
At the beginning of July, France sent its National Energy-Climate Plan (PNEC) to Brussels, which was required before June 30, but without including a new objective in terms of the share of renewables in final energy consumption in 2030. In reality, the media Context reveals that France has indeed communicated a new target to the European executive but barely raised it since the share now reaches 35% and therefore remains well below the 44% of the directive on renewables.
Rather a share of “decarbonized energies” to integrate nuclear power
To justify this gap, France prefers to put forward a “decarbonized” objective, including nuclear power, which emits little of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. The planned trajectory “will allow France to reach 58% of decarbonized energies in its final energy consumption” in 2030, “which fully contributes to European objectives”, Paris defends itself in the PNEC. As for the 2020 objective, it “will be reached in 2024 and would even be exceeded by almost one point”, it is said with satisfaction.
“France has one of the most carbon-free energy and electricity mixes in the EU,” she further justifies herself.
For this reason, the government had written to the Commission to justify its refusal to purchase “a posteriori (volumes) of renewable energy production from other States”, as provided for in the directive in the event of non-achievement of the objectives. France thus runs the risk of a sanctions procedure by the Commission. But, taking advantage of a return to grace of nuclear power, it also hopes to rally States around its action to replace renewable energy objectives with decarbonization objectives.
Overall, “France has set itself the objective of a gross reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions of at least 50% in 2030 compared to 1990”, or 270 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (compared to 373 MtCO2e in 2023), adds the updated Pniec. But a decree is still awaited to implement the multi-year program setting the major objectives by type of energy for 2035 and the national low-carbon strategy (SNBC), a national roadmap to combat climate change.
