September infringement package – key decisions on energy

In its regular package of infringement decisions, the European Commission pursues legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions, covering various sectors and EU policy areas, aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.

In the list of September infringements, there is 1 energy-related letter of formal notice. 

The Commission calls on Member States 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.

For more information on the EU infringement procedure, see the full press release and Q&A. For more detail on the history of a case, you can consult the infringement decisions' register.