The EU is tightening its sanctions against Belarus. Another 38 individuals and three organizations have been sanctioned. The reason is human rights violations in the country, which supports Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs representative, said the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko was responsible for “widespread and massive violations of human rights and brutal repression against all sectors of Belarusian society”.
The measures are designed to ensure that sanctions against Russia cannot be circumvented via the friendly neighboring country. In addition, export bans to Belarus have been extended to some highly sensitive goods and technologies that contribute to the aggressor’s military and technological buildup. The Council also imposed an additional export ban on firearms and ammunition, as well as on goods and technologies suitable for use in the aerospace industry.
Following the cancellation of the grain deal on July 17, Russia’s attacks targeted Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure. In total, there had been more than 100 attacks on port facilities and warehouses. The Kyiv Prosecutor General is considering whether to prosecute these attacks as war crimes. Do not lose hope!
After the summer break, the final votes for the Renewable Energies Directive are due and thus for the increase of the EU-wide mandatory target to 42.5 percent. The member states are aiming for a further 2.5 percentage points on a voluntary basis. To achieve the latter, the Commission is to hold EU-wide auctions for wind and solar farms, if necessary, which would then count toward the common EU target. This is what the ITRE position on electricity market reform, which the Industry Committee adopted shortly before the summer break, says.
The Greens’ initiative also meets with approval from the EPP. “Auctions are a good option for jointly tendering renewable energies across borders with the help of market premiums”, says Markus Pieper (CDU). The text cites EU-backed Contracts for Difference (CfDs) and long-term, bilateral company supply agreements (PPAs) in particular as instruments for Europe-wide auctions at the Union level. Even nearby infrastructure and storage facilities could be co-sponsored.
Technically, the Green Party envisages that the tenders could be carried out via the Union’s Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism. It was introduced with the Governance Regulation and has been usable since the fall of 2020. However, the first tender only started in April this year. Luxembourg pays money into the mechanism to build renewables in Finland, which then count toward Luxembourg’s renewables target. Under the new “European Renewable Energy Auction System“, the capacity would count toward the EU’s 2.5 percent target.
This involves considerable quantities, as rough calculations by Agora Energiewende show for Table.Media. Theoretically, these quantities could be achieved with 210 gigawatts (GW) of solar parks, 100 GW of onshore wind or 60 GW of offshore wind, explains electricity market expert Christian Redl. He does not necessarily see the fact that only a few member states have so far shown interest in cross-border tenders as an obstacle: “If sites become increasingly scarce in some states, making them available could be more financially worthwhile.”
WindEurope welcomes the planned auction system as an “additional option”, but says its first priority is to increase the renewables share to 42.5 percent in the first place. “The priority remains to get the volumes and details right in this year’s revision of national energy and climate plans for 2030”, says a spokesperson. “Last year, only half of the new wind energy capacity needed to meet 2030 targets was installed.”
While RED III introduced new expediting options for permits, they must be used. “State administrators are getting on our case because they don’t know how district governments are supposed to meet the new timelines“, says RED reporter Pieper. But he also points to new permitting fictions if agencies break deadlines.
The energy and climate plans also form the basis for the Commission’s action. It is only to initiate the EU tenders if the 45 percent target is likely to be missed with regard to the NECPs. Member states must submit the final versions by June 2024. How quickly EU tenders actually come then is likely to depend also on the financing, which has not yet been settled.
“Secured funding would be possible from 2028 onwards via new money from the next multi-annual financial framework”, says Agora expert Redl. “In the short term, voluntary national payments from the existing Renewables Financing Mechanism and national funds from NextGenerationEU could be used.”
Green Party MEP Michael Bloss sees other short-term funding options. “You can do it through the annual budget, through the Innovation Fund or the Connecting Europe Facility“, Bloss says. However, he would prefer funds already committed to member states from REPowerEU. “We auctioned additional certificates here, so it’s also about additional CO2 emissions. The deal was that there is money from REPowerEU for higher renewable targets.”
However, the EU tenders could have a negative effect. If less ambitious countries see that Brussels is helping them out with EU funds, they might be tempted to do little themselves to contribute to the 2.5 percent target. This could even be a reason not to promote the new auctions too aggressively.
When Eckhard Ruthemeyer entered the European Parliament building in Brussels for the first time, he felt a sense of awe. He had come with a task: To represent his home, the town of Soest, population 50,000, on the European stage. The reason: The mayor of the North Rhine-Westphalian county seat had just been elected to the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).
Eckhard Ruthemeyer’s interest in politics began in his youth in the 1960s in Georgsmarienhütte near Osnabrück. A dedicated teacher got him interested in politics outside the classroom. At 20, he joined the Young Union and met CDU politician and MEP Hans-Gert Pöttering, who impressed him. “His drive and commitment inspire me to this day”, Ruthemeyer says. Pöttering’s political vision of a peaceful, united and economically strong Europe continues to shape Ruthemeyer today. After studying law and earning his doctorate, he worked in the Wolfsburg city administration until he moved to Soest.
In 1999, he ran for mayor there as a candidate for the CDU and was elected. He has held the office ever since – without interruption, almost a quarter of a century. In local politics, he has experienced a lot in these years – the refugee crisis in 2015, the Corona pandemic and now the Ukraine war. “What is special for me is that we as an administration have been able to rely on a strong network of associations and initiatives in Soest over all these years”, Ruthemeyer recounts. That is what is special about his city and distinguishes it from large cities such as Wolfsburg.
Since March 2018, Soest’s first man has represented civil society on the European Committee of the Regions. Founded in 1994, the institution aims to make the interests of citizens – for example in the municipalities, provinces and districts – visible at the European level. To this end, plenary sessions are held every two months in Brussels, where representatives of various political groups discuss issues and compile position papers. As a Union politician, Ruthemeyer belongs to the EPP group in the CoR. Representatives of the EU Commission attend the meetings to follow up on issues from local politics and, if necessary, incorporate them into their legislative proposals. The committee has primarily a representative function.
“At the beginning of my term, I was always there for three days, but as mayor, local tasks naturally come first”, Ruthemeyer says. That’s why he can’t attend every meeting. Nevertheless, he says he enjoys being involved in the CoR. “For me, working on the committee means making local issues visible at the EU level and thus making citizens’ voices heard“, says the mayor. To cope with the additional work in the CoR, he works closely with the city administration. It also helps that he now has a lot of experience in the office and thus works more efficiently than before, he explains.
However, the mayor thinks he is too old for a complete change to EU politics. That’s why it’s all the more important that the next generation devotes itself to the topic. “In view of the tense situation on our continent, it is all the more important to get young people excited about Europe”, he says. And perhaps some of them will feel the same way as he did on his first visit to the European Parliament: When he entered the building back then, he discovered a photo of Hans-Gert Pöttering, his political role model, in a corridor. A goosebump moment, says Eckhard Ruthemeyer. Tim Morgenstern
The EU is tightening its sanctions against Belarus. Another 38 individuals and three organizations have been sanctioned. The reason is human rights violations in the country, which supports Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs representative, said the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko was responsible for “widespread and massive violations of human rights and brutal repression against all sectors of Belarusian society”.
The measures are designed to ensure that sanctions against Russia cannot be circumvented via the friendly neighboring country. In addition, export bans to Belarus have been extended to some highly sensitive goods and technologies that contribute to the aggressor’s military and technological buildup. The Council also imposed an additional export ban on firearms and ammunition, as well as on goods and technologies suitable for use in the aerospace industry.
Following the cancellation of the grain deal on July 17, Russia’s attacks targeted Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure. In total, there had been more than 100 attacks on port facilities and warehouses. The Kyiv Prosecutor General is considering whether to prosecute these attacks as war crimes. Do not lose hope!
After the summer break, the final votes for the Renewable Energies Directive are due and thus for the increase of the EU-wide mandatory target to 42.5 percent. The member states are aiming for a further 2.5 percentage points on a voluntary basis. To achieve the latter, the Commission is to hold EU-wide auctions for wind and solar farms, if necessary, which would then count toward the common EU target. This is what the ITRE position on electricity market reform, which the Industry Committee adopted shortly before the summer break, says.
The Greens’ initiative also meets with approval from the EPP. “Auctions are a good option for jointly tendering renewable energies across borders with the help of market premiums”, says Markus Pieper (CDU). The text cites EU-backed Contracts for Difference (CfDs) and long-term, bilateral company supply agreements (PPAs) in particular as instruments for Europe-wide auctions at the Union level. Even nearby infrastructure and storage facilities could be co-sponsored.
Technically, the Green Party envisages that the tenders could be carried out via the Union’s Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism. It was introduced with the Governance Regulation and has been usable since the fall of 2020. However, the first tender only started in April this year. Luxembourg pays money into the mechanism to build renewables in Finland, which then count toward Luxembourg’s renewables target. Under the new “European Renewable Energy Auction System“, the capacity would count toward the EU’s 2.5 percent target.
This involves considerable quantities, as rough calculations by Agora Energiewende show for Table.Media. Theoretically, these quantities could be achieved with 210 gigawatts (GW) of solar parks, 100 GW of onshore wind or 60 GW of offshore wind, explains electricity market expert Christian Redl. He does not necessarily see the fact that only a few member states have so far shown interest in cross-border tenders as an obstacle: “If sites become increasingly scarce in some states, making them available could be more financially worthwhile.”
WindEurope welcomes the planned auction system as an “additional option”, but says its first priority is to increase the renewables share to 42.5 percent in the first place. “The priority remains to get the volumes and details right in this year’s revision of national energy and climate plans for 2030”, says a spokesperson. “Last year, only half of the new wind energy capacity needed to meet 2030 targets was installed.”
While RED III introduced new expediting options for permits, they must be used. “State administrators are getting on our case because they don’t know how district governments are supposed to meet the new timelines“, says RED reporter Pieper. But he also points to new permitting fictions if agencies break deadlines.
The energy and climate plans also form the basis for the Commission’s action. It is only to initiate the EU tenders if the 45 percent target is likely to be missed with regard to the NECPs. Member states must submit the final versions by June 2024. How quickly EU tenders actually come then is likely to depend also on the financing, which has not yet been settled.
“Secured funding would be possible from 2028 onwards via new money from the next multi-annual financial framework”, says Agora expert Redl. “In the short term, voluntary national payments from the existing Renewables Financing Mechanism and national funds from NextGenerationEU could be used.”
Green Party MEP Michael Bloss sees other short-term funding options. “You can do it through the annual budget, through the Innovation Fund or the Connecting Europe Facility“, Bloss says. However, he would prefer funds already committed to member states from REPowerEU. “We auctioned additional certificates here, so it’s also about additional CO2 emissions. The deal was that there is money from REPowerEU for higher renewable targets.”
However, the EU tenders could have a negative effect. If less ambitious countries see that Brussels is helping them out with EU funds, they might be tempted to do little themselves to contribute to the 2.5 percent target. This could even be a reason not to promote the new auctions too aggressively.
When Eckhard Ruthemeyer entered the European Parliament building in Brussels for the first time, he felt a sense of awe. He had come with a task: To represent his home, the town of Soest, population 50,000, on the European stage. The reason: The mayor of the North Rhine-Westphalian county seat had just been elected to the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).
Eckhard Ruthemeyer’s interest in politics began in his youth in the 1960s in Georgsmarienhütte near Osnabrück. A dedicated teacher got him interested in politics outside the classroom. At 20, he joined the Young Union and met CDU politician and MEP Hans-Gert Pöttering, who impressed him. “His drive and commitment inspire me to this day”, Ruthemeyer says. Pöttering’s political vision of a peaceful, united and economically strong Europe continues to shape Ruthemeyer today. After studying law and earning his doctorate, he worked in the Wolfsburg city administration until he moved to Soest.
In 1999, he ran for mayor there as a candidate for the CDU and was elected. He has held the office ever since – without interruption, almost a quarter of a century. In local politics, he has experienced a lot in these years – the refugee crisis in 2015, the Corona pandemic and now the Ukraine war. “What is special for me is that we as an administration have been able to rely on a strong network of associations and initiatives in Soest over all these years”, Ruthemeyer recounts. That is what is special about his city and distinguishes it from large cities such as Wolfsburg.
Since March 2018, Soest’s first man has represented civil society on the European Committee of the Regions. Founded in 1994, the institution aims to make the interests of citizens – for example in the municipalities, provinces and districts – visible at the European level. To this end, plenary sessions are held every two months in Brussels, where representatives of various political groups discuss issues and compile position papers. As a Union politician, Ruthemeyer belongs to the EPP group in the CoR. Representatives of the EU Commission attend the meetings to follow up on issues from local politics and, if necessary, incorporate them into their legislative proposals. The committee has primarily a representative function.
“At the beginning of my term, I was always there for three days, but as mayor, local tasks naturally come first”, Ruthemeyer says. That’s why he can’t attend every meeting. Nevertheless, he says he enjoys being involved in the CoR. “For me, working on the committee means making local issues visible at the EU level and thus making citizens’ voices heard“, says the mayor. To cope with the additional work in the CoR, he works closely with the city administration. It also helps that he now has a lot of experience in the office and thus works more efficiently than before, he explains.
However, the mayor thinks he is too old for a complete change to EU politics. That’s why it’s all the more important that the next generation devotes itself to the topic. “In view of the tense situation on our continent, it is all the more important to get young people excited about Europe”, he says. And perhaps some of them will feel the same way as he did on his first visit to the European Parliament: When he entered the building back then, he discovered a photo of Hans-Gert Pöttering, his political role model, in a corridor. A goosebump moment, says Eckhard Ruthemeyer. Tim Morgenstern
