In accordance with the requirements of Directive 2001/77/EC and Directive 2003/30/EC, the Commission presents a staff working document which accompanies the renewable energy progress report. It also provides further background material and detailed analysis of the economic aspects and environmental impacts of biofuels in transport, as required by Directive 2003/20/EC. The staff working document assesses Member State's progress towards 2010 targets for renewable electricity and renewable fuel use. It also briefly looks into developments in the heating and cooling sector. As the most recent available statistical data from Eurostat only cover the period up to 2008, it is not yet possible to determine whether Member States have met their 2010 targets based on Eurostat data. For this reason the Commission refers, where appropriate, to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP) submitted by Member States in accordance with the Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC.

Progress to date : since the last progress report , the renewable energy sector experienced continued growth in the period 2006-2008, with the overall renewable energy share in the EU reaching 10.3% in 2008 (8.8% in 2006) and progress in all three final sectors (to shares of 16.6% in electricity, 11.9% in heating and cooling and 3.5% in transport ). In the absence of Eurostat data for 2009 and 2010, it is not yet possible to determine whether the EU will reach its 2010 targets for renewable electricity and transport. Preliminary analysis of Member State's intentions stated in their NREAPs indicate that overall EU share for renewable energy use in electricity in 2010 could reach 19.4%, for transport – 5% and for heating and cooling – 12.5%.

· Electricity from renewable energy sources : since the last progress report, the share of green electricity in the EU has grown continuously reaching 15.8% in 2007 and 16.6% in 2008, compared to 15.1% in 2006. In spite of this solid growth, the Commission states that it remains likely that the EU will fail to reach its 2010 target of 21%.

· Renewable energy in the transport sector : in 2008 the EU share of renewable energy in transport was 3.5%, up from 2.6% in 2007. Preliminary data for 2009 indicate further growth in the sector, with the biofuels share reaching 4% of the total fuel consumption in transport.

· Renewable energy in heating and cooling : despite being the dominant sector in renewable energy's contribution to final energy (where heating and cooling represent 54%), the growth in renewables based heating and cooling has been less rapid than in the other two sectors. In 2008 the share of renewable heating and cooling was 11.9%, compared to 11.5% in 2007 and 10.3% in 2006.

Despite continued growth in the last two years the staff working document highlights that there is still limited convergence in Member States' performance in developing renewable energy sources. Indeed, most Member States have recognised in their NREAPs their expectation of failure to reach their 2010 renewable electricity targets. For renewable energy use in transport the trend is somewhat better, as many Member States note in their NREAPs their expectation to exceed the 2010 targets. This is however not the case for all Member States.

It has been acknowledged that the previous European regulatory framework for renewable energy was too weak, and the new framework is much stronger, indeed one of the strongest in the world. Member States have presented the Commission with their NREAPs outlining their national strategies and measures to reach the 2020 renewable energy targets, and these plans confirm the ambition to reach the EU target of 20% for renewable energy use by 2020. Turning this ambition into reality, however, will require the complete and correct implementation of the new Renewable Energy Directive.

This Renewable Energy Progress Report from the Commission is in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 2001/77/EC, Article 4(2) of Directive 2003/30/EC and on the implementation of the EU Biomass Action Plan.

In 1997 the Commission published a White Paper on renewable energy which announced a target to double the European Union’s renewable energy share to 12% by 2010. Two key pieces of legislation (Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC) set indicative 2010 targets for all Member States and required actions to improve the growth, development and access of renewable energy. In addition, a Biomass Action Plan was adopted in 2005 to focus attention on the specific need for Member States to develop Europe's biomass resources.

Regular assessments and reports have been prepared on the EU’s progress towards its 2010 targets and on its efforts in general to develop renewable energy. The reports issued in 2007 as well as the Renewable Energy Roadmap highlighted the slow progress Member States were making and the likelihood that the EU as a whole would fail to reach its 2010 target. The Commission therefore proposed a new, more rigorous framework to drive forward the development of renewable energy and more solid, legally binding targets for 2020. It proposed new legislation covering all renewable energy and set new targets for 2020 to ensure a stable regulatory framework for the decade ahead. This new Renewable Energy Directive has now been agreed.

The purpose of this report is to provide information on progress since the 2007 reports, as required under the two current Directives (2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC), focusing on data from 2004 to 2006 or 2007. The report also sets the scene for the future by describing the state of progress in developing renewable energy today and explaining how the new framework will drive forward the growth of renewable energy, including biomass, in the immediate years ahead.

Conclusions : the report concludes that Europe is still likely to fail to meet its 2010 renewable energy targets , despite the legislation, the recommendations, the exhortations and even legal proceedings against some Member States. However, there has been limited recent progress . In the electricity sector new policy measures have resulted in substantial growth in some Member States, six of whom achieved an increase in their share of at least two percentage points since 2004. At the same time, seven Member States’ renewable electricity shares have actually stagnated or shrunk since 2004. In the transport sector , quite a widespread change to the use of obligation measures rather than just taxation measures has contributed to an increase in the EU share of 1.6 percentage points since 2004, driven by growth in shares of over 2% in seven Member States.

Whilst some recent progress has been achieved, the rate of growth remains slow and the barriers to growth, across all sectors, remain high in most Member States. Europe is unlikely to reach either the target for the share of electricity from renewable energy sources or the target for the share of renewable energy in transport. The European Commission will continue to take legal action to ensure compliance with the existing Directives and so improve progress towards the 2010 targets.

Given the major potential contribution of renewable energy to the EU’s climate and energy goals, the new European Directive on renewable energy which will enter into force in early 2009, will provide a welcome strengthening of the legal framework.

The National Action Plans that Member States will have to prepare by 2010 will mean that all Member States, including those which so far have made very limited progress towards agreed EU objectives, will have to establish a clear plan as to how they intend to achieve their targets for renewable energy and for renewable energy in transport. They will have to explain how they intend to reform building codes and planning regimes to increase the use of renewable energy and to improve access conditions to the electricity grid. They will have to set out national sectoral targets, the measures and support schemes to be used to reach the targets, the specific measures for the promotion of the use of energy from biomass , the intended use of (statistical) transfers of renewable energy from other Member States and their assessment of the role different technologies will play in reaching the targets. Lastly, they will have to implement and monitor biofuel sustainability criteria to ensure biofuels clearly contribute to environmental objectives.

With all of these elements, the Directive will provide a stable policy regime for the rapid development of renewable energy in the EU for the next 12 years.

This Commission Staff Working Document accompanies the Commission communication on the renewable energy progress report. It outlines the progress the European Union is making as regards the development of renewable energy.

Firstly, the Communication recalls the European policy framework for renewable energy: the importance of renewable energy for meeting our climate change and sustainability objectives, improving the security of our energy supply and developing an innovative European renewable energy industry to generate jobs and wealth for Europe.

This working document provides the background material and analysis supporting the results presented in the Communication. It also provides a summary of the detailed analysis undertaken for or by the Commission which explored the rate of progress and barriers to further growth in renewable energy and the impacts of biofuels in transport, as required under Directive 2003/30/EC.

More specifically, the particular areas dealt with in the report are as follows:

electricity sector : support schemes; administrative barriers and grid access; guarantees of origin and the Member States’ progress towards the 2010 targets. transport sector : progress in the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels; support schemes; economic and environmental impacts. biomass sector : the availability and use of biomass as well as the barriers to the uptake of bioenergy.

Lastly, the report also presents a summary of the state of implementation of the 33 actions of the Biomass Action.