The 30 selected Young Energy Ambassadors (2024-2025) took part in a workshop during the 2024 European Sustainable Energy Week to draft a letter with their recommendations for the next energy Commissioner. These 12 recommendations are the outcome of their discussion.
With almost 1/3 of the EU population living in flats, many residents, particularly tenants and low-income households, face barriers to participating in the energy transition. Supporting their participation in renewable energy communities ensures a more inclusive transition, covering a higher share of residential energy emissions and gaining greater political buy-in.
This recommendation centers on recognising energy communities as a mechanism for accelerating the energy transition, particularly in urban areas. It proposes creating a grant funding mechanism to assist energy communities in overcoming upfront financial barriers, allowing residents of apartment buildings and owners’ or tenants’ associations to participate. Additionally, educational campaigns would be run to inform and engage residents about the benefits and opportunities of energy communities.
- Grant funding mechanism: establish a grant system to provide financial support for the development and implementation of renewable energy projects within energy communities.
- Educational campaigns and capacity building: support educational campaigns aimed at building residents to raise awareness about the benefits of participating in renewable energy initiatives and measures to increase the capacity of local authorities to facilitate the process.
Achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal requires a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Social acceptance by local populations is both a barrier and an opportunity for the deployment of renewable assets.
This recommendation centers on creating a mandatory shareholder loan instrument for local communities, backed by a corporate guarantee from the project sponsor, applicable to all upcoming renewable energy auctions in the EU.
Member States should, following a EU legal framework, allocate a specific percentage (e.g., 10-20%) of the shareholder loans in new renewable energy projects to be available for subscription by citizens or local communities.
- Mandatory shareholder loan allocation, corporate guarantee, and support: require project sponsors to provide a corporate guarantee for the shareholder loans, ensuring that the investment is secure and attractive to local citizens.
Transitioning to a green economy necessitates a population with the knowledge, values, skills and abilities to support and develop sustainable practices and technologies. Currently, many individuals are unprepared to participate in this transition due to outdated curricula and insufficient educator training on green topics. As industries evolve and some are phased out, job conversion becomes critical to prevent workers from being left behind.
This recommendation proposesthe Green Deal Education Initiative "Education First" to integrate comprehensive green transition topics into EU educational systems. This programme focuses on updating curricula, training educators, and creating green job conversion programs to ensure that all citizens, from students to professionals, are well-equipped to contribute to a sustainable future.
- Funding for curriculum development, Funding for the creation of Green Job Conversion Programmes within universities, high schools, and vocational schools, and supporting educational institutions to train their teachers and student's parents to improve the overall energy culture, introducing education as a main pillar of the Green Deal.
4. Buy & Recycle Europe - incentivising recycling in the renewable energy sector and favouring the European value chain
Integrating recovery and recycling processes in the renewable energy sector is essential for several reasons. Recycling reduces waste, decreases dependency on external resources, and strengthens supply chains, crucial as demand for renewable technologies soars.
Moreover, this growing demand risks aggravating social and environmental damage in resource-rich countries with already fragile regulatory frameworks.
Promoting recycling in the EU can mitigate this risk, ensuring a more ethical and sustainable supply chain and lowering the risk of conflict.
- Significant investment in R&D to develop technologies that reduce raw material dependency and explore sustainable bio-based alternatives.Production standards across renewable technologies will simplify installation, and maintenance, and promote recycling throughout product life cycles. Incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies, public-private partnerships, and regulations mandating recycling are essential. Additionally, a "Buy Europe" label and consumer education on the benefits of recycled materials can support local, sustainable production and reduce dependency on imported raw materials.
The transition from traditional single-price auctions to a dual-tariff system in renewable energy auctions is crucial for addressing the challenges posed by intermittent renewable energy sources (RES).
By requiringseparate tariffs for peak demand and off-peak periods, this system ensures reliable energy availability during high-demand times, enhancing grid stability.
The dual-tariff RES auction proposal introduces separate pricing for peak and off-peak periods. Higher tariffs during peaks ensure energy availability when demand exceeds generation, improving market efficiency and stability.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) store surplus energy from low-demand times for release during peaks, smoothing supply fluctuations and enhancing renewable energy reliability while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
- Initial pilot projects should be financed and implemented to test and refine the approach. Gradual implementation policies will mandate increasing adoption of the dual-tariff system, facilitating a systematic transition towards more efficient and stable renewable energy integration.
The reactive social movements associated with different green policies of the last years have shown that the success of the European Green Deal is inextricably linked to our capacity to ensure public buy-in and an equitable distribution of costs/benefits of the transition. Moreover, this effort must be bottom-up, in alignment to local needs.
To promote energy equity and a just energy transition, the proposal suggests mainstreaming territoriality and place-based approaches and integrating social and environmental conditionalities and the Partnership Principle across policies and financial tools.
- This includes adopting just transition as a strategic priority of the next Commission and Just Transition Fund 2.0 with updated Territorial Just Transition Plans, incorporating green criteria in public procurement to foster local green innovation and short supply chains, and measures for supporting smaller municipalities. The proposal also advocates using Beyond GDP criteria for EU funding to focus on well-being and social inclusion, implementing a rewards mechanism for socially or environmentally transformative projects, and conditional access to resources.
To maximize the utilisation of clean renewable energy and avoid curtailment, it is imperative to enhance the integration of electricity markets across EU countries. Improved interconnections will increase system flexibility and support the decarbonisation of the electricity market, fostering a more efficient and resilient energy system.
This policy recommends reinforcing electricity market integration by reviewing and updating the 15% interconnection target to reflect country-specific requirements.
Enhanced financing for interconnections and sanctions for countries that obstruct progress will ensure a cohesive and integrated energy market across Europe.
- Review and update interconnection targets: implement a formula-based approach to revise the 15% interconnection target, tailoring requirements to the specific needs and capacities of each country,
- Financing and sanctions: Provide targeted financing to support the development of necessary interconnections and impose sanctions on countries that hinder the progress of market integration.
To ensure genuine progress towards net-zero emissions, it is essential to establish clear and robust net-zero standards.
This will link private and public capital to verified CO2 emission reductions, protect EU industries from unfair foreign competition, and enforce corporate accountability for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This recommendation focuses on the creation of comprehensive European net-zero standards whichwill define precise criteria for achieving net-zero and enforce the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with stringent GHG accounting rules, such as the GHG Protocol.
- Compliance targets and incentives: link compliance with net-zero standards to access capital, interest rates, or fines. Companies meeting the standards will benefit from favorable financial terms, while non-compliance will result in penalties.
- Observatory and enforcement agency: establish an observatory and enforcement agency to monitor adherence to net-zero standards and ensure accountability, oversight, and support for reporting and compliance.
The rapid evolution of the energy sector demands a skilled and adaptable workforce. Establishing a European Energy Academy will address the growing need for specialised education and training, ensuring that individuals of all ages are prepared to contribute to and benefit from the energy transition. The European Energy Academy will be a comprehensive platform offering free courses relevant to the energy sector, tailored to various age groups and professional stages.
It should include basic extracurricular courses (ages 12-18), technical courses for professional development (ages 19-24), upskilling, and career-change courses (ages 24+). Additionally, the academy should feature a job platform in partnership with companies, providing users with opportunities to apply for relevant jobs, thereby addressing the job shortage in the energy sector.
- Establish a youth advisory board: involve young people in the decision-making process to ensure that the content is relevant and engaging, thus optimising the effectiveness of the course.
- Create and maintain the job platform: develop a partnership with EU companies to offer a job platform linked to the academy, helping graduates find employment in the energy sector.
The energy transition is progressing rapidly, but underdeveloped infrastructure is a significant barrier.
This recommendation promotes the creation of a single energy infrastructure funding hub—a centralised one-stop shop where all financing and funding instruments for energy infrastructure projects (including clean generators, storage, demand-side flexibility, and grids) offered by EU institutions are made accessible to project developers.
Additionally, this hub will serve as an instrument for market analysis, enabling European manufacturers to assess future demand and scale up their manufacturing capacity, thereby supporting the domestic industry and ensuring a competitive Europe. National authorities will represent this one-stop shop at the country level.
- Establishment of the centralised hub: set up a centralised platform that consolidates all EU funding and financing instruments for energy infrastructure projects,
- Market analysis function: integrate a market analysis tool within the hub to allow European manufacturers to gauge future demand for energy infrastructure components. This will support the scaling up of manufacturing capacity within Europe and strengthen the domestic industry.
Enhancing industrial competitiveness and market resilience within the EU is imperative for securing energy independence and mitigating the social and environmental impacts associated with dependence on critical materials. This policy recommends subsidising European manufacturing of renewable energy sources and batteries.
The subsidies will be allocated when a specified amount of the product is regionally produced within the EU. This approach aims to foster local production, support the recycling of renewable energy technologies, and ensure the availability of cost-efficient, locally-produced renewable energy tech.
- Subsidy allocation implements a subsidy program that provides financial support to manufacturers of renewables and batteries within the EU. The subsidies will be contingent upon the production of a certain amount of these products within the region, encouraging local manufacturing and reducing reliance on imports.
- Finally, fair sufficiency and demand moderation policies are crucial for complementing a strong internal manufacturing industry, lowering external dependencies and building a sustainable and resilient energy system. Strategic actions should first aim to moderate demand in an equitable manner, secondly promote internal manufacturing, recovery, and recycling, and thirdly cover left demand through imports with respect for human rights, and social and environmental protection.
Reducing dependence on short-distance flights and promoting sustainable transport is essential for lowering carbon emissions, reducing electricity and critical raw materials demand, and enhancing urban sustainability.
This policy recommends making sustainable transport modes, such as trains, more affordable and attractive.
This can be achieved by using additional collected funds from EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) allowances, from the aviation sector, and reallocating the revenue to enhance rail infrastructure and reduce train ticket prices. By doing so, we can encourage a shift from short-distance flights to more sustainable travel options, promoting environmental and social benefits.
- Cut EU ETS free allowances for short flights trips where alternative transport is available, graduallyincrease carbon pricing on aviation, invest in rail infrastructure: allocate funds from the increased carbon pricing on aviation to improve and expand rail infrastructure across the EU and support access for the most vulnerable.