The European Parliament is committed to promoting the self-consumption of renewable energies in all the countries of the European Union, in addition to urging the States to "ensure that consumers have the right to become self-consumers of renewable energies ”.
To do this, all consumers must be authorized “to self-consume and sell their surplus production of renewable electricity, without being subject to discriminatory procedures and charges or disproportionate that do not reflect costs.
Congress has approved an amendment that asks to allow the consumption of electricity from renewable sources of own production and that remains inside their buildings "without being subject to taxes, fees or tributes of any kind". This amendment received 594 votes in favor, 69 against and 20 abstentions.
Several Socialist MEPs have affirmed: “We have protected something that was a fight, in my fair opinion, which is to guarantee self-consumption as a right. The self-consumption of renewable energy as a right and eliminating administrative obstacles and prohibiting measures such as the tax that is known in my country, the tax on the sun.
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What is the tax on the Sun?
What is the tax on the Sun?
The Council of Ministers approved at the end of 2015, the Royal Decree that imposes what it calls «backup toll»To energy self-consumption, popularly known as the tax on the sun
Unfortunately, the worst suspicions of consumer organizations, environmental groups, business associations and the opposition have come true. They had been warning of this fact for a long time, since 2 years before the Ministry of Industry announced its objectives
Based on the report that recommended some changes to the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), and the subsequent approval of the Council of State; the Government approved this new decree without any problem.
The sun tax approved under the mandate of José Manuel Soria in the Ministry of Industry is one of those laws that no citizen understands. Why Germany, a country with much less sun than us, has put more plates in a year than Spain in all its history ?.
The truth is that Spain was a great promoter of renewable energy at the beginning of the century, even offering bonuses to those who installed solar panels. However, speculation in the market and the measures of the PP government from 2011 they began to complicate this situation.
For international organizations like Greenpeace it supposes a "clear policy of penalizing renewable energies, saving and energy efficiency".
In fact, Greenpeace asks the Government that Spain become a leader in renewables again: They demand that the future Climate Change Law include 100% clean energy. They recall that ten years ago they demonstrated their technical and economic viability.
Future amendment
Asked about the future of this amendment in the negotiations with the community partners, the Socialists have hoped to have the support of the European Commission and have warned that the European Parliament will not resign, given the support that this part of the text has received.
If that were not enough, the plenary session of the European Parliament has asked to raise the renewable energy target for the European Union up to 35% in 2030, compared to the target of 27% currently posted.
The MEPs have approved with 492 votes in favor, 88 against and 107 abstentions the report of the PSOE MEP José Blanco, which sets the position of the European Parliament in the face of the negotiations that must now begin with the Council of the EU, the institution representing the Member States, which advocates keeping the target at 27%.
At a press conference, the white MEP added: «Today we can say that the European Union has given a clear and unambiguous message to meet the Paris goals and to promote an energy transition based on clean energy and renewable energies ”.
To achieve the new renewable goals, countries should set their own national targets, which will be coordinated and supervised by the union.
In addition, the MEPs of the European Union agreed to establish an energy efficiency target for 2030 also of 35%, which will be calculated from the projection of energy consumption for that same year according to the PRIMES model, which simulates energy consumption and supply in the EU.