The European Commission has urged Ireland, Latvia and Portugal to fully transpose EU rules, accelerating permitting procedures for renewable energy projects.
The Commission has also opened infringement proceedings against Ireland, France and Slovenia for failing to correctly transpose the EU Drinking Water Directive.
The Commission said it has sent “reasoned opinions” to Ireland, Latvia and Portugal over their failure to fully transpose into national law the provisions of a revised Renewable Energy Directive.
This revised directive entered into force in November 2023 and certain provisions had to be transposed into national law by July 1st, 2024, it says.
“ These provisions aim to simplify and accelerate permitting procedures both for renewable energy projects and for the infrastructure projects which are necessary to integrate the additional capacity into the electricity system,”the Commission says.
“They 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,”it says.
“ In September 2024, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 26 member states for failing to fully transpose the Directive into national law. After having examined the transposition measures notified by Ireland, Latvia and Portugal, the Commission has concluded that the three member states have not yet fully transposed the provisions related to the simplification and acceleration of permitting procedures,”it says.
The three states including Ireland have two months to respond and take the necessary measures to complete the transposition, it says.
“Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union with a request to impose financial sanctions,”it says.
It has also separately opened infringement procedures by sending letters of formal notice to Ireland, France and Slovenia for failing to correctly transpose the Drinking Water Directive.
The Drinking Water Directive contributes to improving water resilience across the EU and achieving the EU’s zero pollution ambition,it says.
“ The recast Drinking Water Directive protects human health by updating water quality standards, tackling pollutants of concern, such as endocrine disruptors and microplastics, and providing cleaner tap water,”it says.
“ Member states were required to transpose the directive by January 12th, 2023. These three member states have not transposed the directive correctly,”it says.
“ As regards France, this concerns the risk assessment of domestic distribution systems, the drinking water quality monitoring and mandatory information to be provided to the public,”the Commission says.
“ For Ireland and Slovenia, the transposition issues mainly concern the provisions of the directive on measures (e.g. temporary restriction) to be taken in case of potential danger to human health from drinking water, when it is temporarily not in compliance with the standards of the directive,”it says.
Ireland, France and Slovenia now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of satisfactory responses, the Commission may decide to move to the next stage, issuing reasoned opinions, it says.
