There have been great strides in the development of renewables in the EU. However, there is also a risk of complacency, as progress has been spread unevenly across the member states and has often accompanied, rather than led, pre-existing developments.
Much of this progress is down to the priority given to renewables as well as their increased cost-competitiveness, even before the entry into force of the current directive. This directive set binding EU and national targets with an overall 20 per cent target for renewable energy resources by 2020 (10 per cent in transport).
It is only now that the more ambitious targets laid out in this directive are starting to apply pressure on those member states that have been lagging behind. That being said, we must also congratulate ourselves on the excellent performance of many countries.
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It is important to learn from what has failed. Notably, the retroactive dismantlement of support schemes has had a chilling effect in some of the countries with the greatest potential for renewables, such as Spain.
The European Commission should provide a clearer assessment of the situation at national level, encouraging member states to improve their coordination and cooperation on the basis of their success in renewables development.
Funding is, of course, another crucial aspect. Public investment and public finance should support the transition towards a more sustainable economy, ensuring greater efficiency and fostering renewable development, thus consolidating the EU technological lead in the renewable economy. But we must also look forward. We cannot go below the ambitions already set out for 2020 and 2030.
We must strengthen these and look beyond these deadlines, following on from COP21 and addressing the need for a structural break towards a swift reduction in our emissions and energy dependency. Here, the current system of national and EU targets, monitoring, reporting and planning provides a structure upon which to build. This point is emphasised in Parliament's report.
We should also bear in mind that advancements in renewables are not only a technical matter - they also have considerable social and democratic implications. Renewables will change the way we consume and produce energy, radically transforming our daily lives.
This is one of the reasons why we have insisted on the need for public participation in the development of energy plans and projects.
The participation of social partners will be crucial. Lest we forget, the potential for job creation in the green economy should be accompanied by adequate training, without lowering the rights of energy workers.
Equally, any strategy for developing renewables should not forget vulnerable consumers. Energy poverty already affects 11 per cent of the EU population. Reducing their exposure to volatile (and frequently manipulated) energy prices and improving their energy efficiency are important steps forward, but solutions are not individual.
We must balance centralised models of energy production, and the greater flexibility provided by renewables, so as to generate affordable and renewable energy. However, this should not be done at the risk of penalising the right to self-generation and self-consumption, as is mentioned in the report.
We think, in this sense, that combining public and collective forms of energy management - including at local level - should become a key goal for optimising democratic control over renewable energy.
This is equally true for heating and cooling, where district-level solutions are bound to become ever more relevant, as will energy efficiency. We cannot forget that energy savings and the development of renewables are just one element in the path to a more sustainable energy system.
Indeed, we must remember that as the scale of renewable energy production increases, so do some environmental problems that are not to be overlooked. One such issue, which is detailed in the report, is the effect of biomass. This leading energy source has important consequences on emissions and land use.
Though somewhat less controversial, hydroelectricity and other large-scale plants can also have detrimental environmental effects that should remain unnoticed in the rush towards renewable development.
Perhaps nowhere has this been as evident as in the transport sector. The use of biofuels has often been detrimental for food production and other crops, requiring a radical rethinking of the EU strategy in this field.
(Already, targets had to be changed because of the bottlenecks and agricultural crisis that the growth of biofuels encountered.) We think that electrification and the use of second-generation biofuels can alleviate some of these problems.
But a radical rethinking of the logistical system, away from the current dispersion of transport, which accounts for the continuous growth of its emissions, is the only way to cut energy consumption and enhance overall sustainability. Overall, the development of renewables is one that must be welcomed.
However, it must mean a transition towards a more sovereign, democratic and sustainable energy system.
This is something we cannot take for granted, given the reluctance of some member states to support renewables, or their attempts to water down their 2030 commitments by avoiding national targets or setting an overall goal of only 27 per cent renewables in energy production.
It is up to the European Parliament to side with the people and ask for greater ambition. I am confident that it will.