The EU has made ‘much progress’ since the adoption of the Energy Union Framework Strategy nine months ago, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

While much remains to be done, next year will be important year of delivery, the Commission said in the State of the Energy Union Report published on Wednesday for the first time.

The document looks at progress made over the last nine months, identifies key action areas for next year and provides policy conclusions at member state, regional and European level.

"The Energy Union is starting to take shape. […] We should now move to full scale delivery of all actions needed,” Miguel Arias Canete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, said in a statement.

He listed the following priorities of his activity in 2016: presenting the legislation to make the EU electricity market work better, to further increase the share of renewables, to bring down  energy consumption and to ensure security of gas supply.

Maros Sefcovic, the Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union, commented on the priority tasks for next year: “First, the EU should continue to lead in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Second, that transition should be socially fair and consumer-centred. And third, the geopolitical challenges that we faced this year will not go away.”

An energy efficiency progress report published alongside the State of the Energy Union Report says that despite significant progress made in implementing the 2020 energy efficiency target of 20% “collective efforts of Member States correspond to only 17.6% primary energy savings, compared to projections for 2020.

“However, the Commission remains optimistic that the 20% target will be achieved, provided that existing EU legislation is fully implemented, efforts are accelerated, ambition level increased and the investment conditions improved.”

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