How can RepowerEU consolidate recovery?

Policy Study

In response to the prolonged energy crisis and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU launched the REPowerEU Plan in May 2022. The Member states have been implementing the REPowerEU objectives alongside the member states’ National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs). This Policy study, by Franco Tomassoni and Tiago Santos Pereira, evaluates the impact of REPowerEU plans alongside the NRRP of Denmark, Estonia, France, Portugal, and Spain.

The main objectives of RePowerEU are energy savings, diversifying energy import, substituting fossil fuels, and accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition. The authors review the goals and corresponding implementation of REPowerEU alongside the NRRPs regarding energy security and green transition.

The REPowerEU plans put energy security, energy efficiency, and energy poverty into the spotlight and facilitate necessary structural and administrative reforms. While situations vary for each member state, the following recommendations could further improve the impact of the REPowerEU:

• Strengthening the criterion for the realisation of cross-border energy infrastructure for EU financing.

• Developing a new energy security concept that enhances internal market and territorial cohesion by enhancing energy infrastructure networks.

• Strengthening monitoring mechanisms regarding adopting new energy technologies and expanding renewable energy production capacity.

This policy study is part of the Recovery Watch series of publications. The Recovery Watch is a research that monitors the Recovery and Resilience Facility and assesses its social impact in different countries.

Led by FEPS, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and the Institut Emile Vandervelde (IEV), in collaboration with several first-rate research organisations.