On 30 June 2021, member states were requested by the European Union to include in their national law the recast Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU (RED II). After one year from this deadline, most of the Member States have agreed on basic definitions of the new notions introduced by the directive, moving the first steps toward the necessary legal framework that will enable the large-scale rollout of community-based renewable projects. Most of the attention has been given to how to include in the national law the definitions of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and Citizens Energy Communities (CECs), but concepts such as are "collective self-consumption” and “active consumers" also enshrined in the Clean Energy Package seems to be hard to capture in their complexity.

The simplification of the wide panorama of possible energy collective actions to only RECs and CECs could result in the limitation of the potential for other types of initiatives to be established. This could also prevent different constellations of stakeholders to interact, not exploiting fully the existing potential to speed up the energy transition in a moment where acceleration is needed more than ever.

DECIDE project provides a good example of this great variety of possibilities. Most of the 21 energy community initiatives directly involved in the project, and many others with whom it collaborates do not fit into the definitions of RECs or CECs. Despite helping the acceleration of the energy transition, those initiatives risk being hindered in their development and excluded from supporting schemes due to the lack of a proper context that recognizes their existence and value.

Building on the need for better clarity and more effective inclusion of all energy collective actions, as per the Clean Energy Package, this webinar will start with an overview of EU Member States’ approaches to the transposition of RECs and CECs to deepen the reasoning on collective actions. A selected panel of experts will later discuss with the audience on the optimal way to provide enabling frameworks for all collective energy initiatives.

Take a look at the full programme and register for the webinar.