EU Energy Governance Reform: Ensuring Competitiveness and Flexibility

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the revision of the governance framework established under the Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action.

A well-functioning governance framework is essential to ensure that the European Union achieves its climate neutrality objective while safeguarding competitiveness, energy security and economic growth. The governance framework should contribute to a cost-efficient transition to net zero, stable and predictable environment for investments, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and facilitate efficient cooperation between Member States.

The purpose of the Governance Regulation is to set out the necessary legislative foundation for reliable, inclusive, cost-efficient, transparent and predictable governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, which ensures the achievement of the 2030 and long-term objectives and targets of the Energy Union in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise believes in this context that a single, overarching GHG emissions reduction target should be at the core of EU’s decarbonisation efforts and governance architecture. This ensures certainty for investments, while also giving the necessary flexibility to reflect Member States’ different comparative advantages regarding both energy production and composition of the business sector. Reaching net zero requires a multitude of solutions, and the closer we get to net zero, the more solutions will be needed.