DECIDE partner JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH published a first report of a series of regulatory reviews in the frame of the project. This public deliverable titled "Yearly policy briefs on regulation 2021" provides an overview of the transposition status of EU Directives related to Energy Communities and compares design elements.

It highlights that in the last months particular progress was made in some new member states with almost all of them having an ongoing legislative process to transpose the EU directives on Energy Communities. Estonia, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Hungary, for example, have presented legal frameworks for CECs, RECs, or for both. Furthermore, the report discusses barriers and enablers of energy communities identified in DECIDE and related projects. It also shows that EU Member states have different starting points, energy histories and energy system needs. As the range of identified barriers illustrates regulatory frameworks need to be complemented by policy and other enabling conditions, which are only partly emerging in most members states and mostly limited due to lack of political and financial support.

The report concludes that enabling frameworks need to go beyond regulation and financial measures, as some aspects of forming energy communities are political and cultural and hard to tackle on the short term with regulation and financial support alone.

Read and download the Report here