The European Commission has called on 26 EU countries, including Bulgaria, to transpose agreed rules to accelerate permitting procedures for renewable energy projects.
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to 26 Member States for failing to fully transpose into national law the provisions of the revised Renewable Energy Directive related to the simplification and acceleration of permitting procedures. The revised RED (Directive 2023/2413 amending Directive 2018/2001) entered into force in November 2023 and certain provisions had to be transposed into national law by 1 July 2024. These provisions include 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. To date, only Denmark has notified full transposition of these provisions by the legal deadline of 1 July 2024. The Commission is therefore 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 may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
Source: European Commission
