The Electrification Alliance on the 2040 Climate Target and energy taxation

Last January, EuropeOn and Avere – the European Association for Electromobility – became the new co-chairs of the Electrification alliance. The presidency will last until the end of June. On 14 and 15 February, the Alliance released the first two statements of this year, focusing on Europe’s 2040 Climate Target and the Energy Taxation Directive.

2040 Climate Target

On 6 February, the European Commission published its assessment on Europe’s 2040 climate target. This document calls for the EU to drop its greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, compared to 1990.

The Electrification Alliance deems the Commission has “set an ambitious goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”. Furthermore, it is extremely positive that clean electrification is seen as ”the main driver” of the energy transition.

However, the Alliance underlines that, to achieve these objectives, the EU has to develop an Electrification Action Plan. Both the Alliance’s and EuropeOn’s manifestos stress the latter point. The new Electrification Action Plan should include a target of at least 35% of final energy consumption by 2030 and measures to phase out fossil fuels and their subsidies.

The EU must also support direct electrification and scalable electrified solutions for the Fit for 55 and Clean Energy Package. This is why the Alliance calls for a speedy release of the announced Heat Pump Action Plan and the conclusion of ongoing negotiations on the Energy Taxation Directive (see below).

You can read the complete Alliance’s statement here.

Energy taxation

In a letter sent to EU-27 Finance Ministers, the Electrification Alliance urges decision-makers to develop “structural measures to improve our energy security and accelerate the fight against climate change”.

In most Member States, fossil fuels are still subject to substantially lower taxes and levies compared to their sustainable counterparts, resulting in counter-productive effects for the green transition. Nevertheless, it is possible to address this tendency through an Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) reform clearly favouring the transition toward clean energy.

You can find more details about the Alliance’s position here.