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L 140/20 EN Official Journal of the European Union 5.6.2009
have a gross final consumption of energy in national air
transport which is disproportionally high, i.e. more than
three times the Community average in 2005, and are thus
disproportionately affected by the current technological
and regulatory constraints. For those Member States it is
therefore appropriate to provide that the exemption should
cover the amount by which they exceed the Community
average gross final consumption of energy in aviation in
2005 as assessed by Eurostat, i.e. 4,12%.
(34) To obtain an energy model that supports energy from
renewable sources there is a need to encourage strategic
cooperation between Member States, involving, as appro
priate, regions and local authorities.
(35) Whilst having due regard to the provisions of this Direc
tive, Member States should be encouraged to pursue all
appropriate forms of cooperation in relation to the objec
tives set out in this Directive. Such cooperation can take
place at all levels, bilaterally or multilaterally. Apart from
the mechanisms with effect on target calculation and tar
get compliance, which are exclusively provided for in this
Directive, namely statistical transfers between Member
States, joint projects and joint support schemes, coopera
tion can also take the form of, for example, exchanges of
information and best practices, as provided for, in particu
lar, in the transparency platform established by this Direc
tive, and other voluntary coordination between all types of
support schemes.
(36) To create opportunities for reducing the cost of achieving
the targets laid down in this Directive, it is appropriate
both to facilitate the consumption in Member States of
energy produced from renewable sources in other Mem
ber States, and to enable Member States to count energy
from renewable sources consumed in other Member States
towards their own national targets. For this reason, flex
ibility measures are required, but they remain under Mem
ber States’ control in order not to affect their ability to
reach their national targets. Those flexibility measures take
the form of statistical transfers, joint projects between
Member States or joint support schemes.
(37) It should be possible for imported electricity, produced
from renewable energy sources outside the Community, to
count towards Member States’ targets. However, to avoid
a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions through the
diversion of existing renewable sources and their complete
or partial replacement by conventional energy sources,
only electricity produced by renewable energy installations
that become operational after the entry into force of this
Directive or by the increased capacity of an installation that
was refurbished after that date should be eligible to be
counted. In order to guarantee an adequate effect of energy
from renewable sources replacing conventional energy in
the Community as well as in third countries it is appropri
ate to ensure that such imports can be tracked and
accounted for in a reliable way. Agreements with third
countries concerning the organisation of such trade in
electricity from renewable energy sources will be consid
ered. If, by virtue of a decision taken under the Energy
Community Treaty
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to that effect, the contracting par
ties to that treaty become bound by the relevant provisions
of this Directive, the measures of cooperation between
Member States provided for in this Directive will be appli
cable to them.
(38) When Member States undertake joint projects with one or
more third countries regarding the production of electric
ity from renewable energy sources, it is appropriate that
those joint projects relate only to newly constructed instal
lations or to installations with newly increased capacity.
This will help ensure that the proportion of energy from
renewable sources in the third country’s total energy con
sumption is not reduced due to the importation of energy
from renewable sources into the Community. In addition,
the Member States concerned should facilitate the domes
tic use by the third country concerned of part of the pro
duction of electricity by the installations covered by the
joint project. Furthermore, the third country concerned
should be encouraged by the Commission and Member
States to develop a renewable energy policy, including
ambitious targets.
(39) Noting that projects of high European interest in third
countries, such as the Mediterranean Solar Plan, may need
a long lead-time before being fully interconnected to the
territory of the Community, it is appropriate to facilitate
their development by allowing Member States to take into
account in their national targets a limited amount of elec
tricity produced by such projects during the construction
of the interconnection.
(40) The procedure used by the administration responsible for
supervising the authorisation, certification and licensing of
renewable energy plants should be objective, transparent,
non-discriminatory and proportionate when applying the
rules to specific projects. In particular, it is appropriate to
avoid any unnecessary burden that could arise by classify
ing renewable energy projects under installations which
represent a high health risk.
(41) The lack of transparent rules and coordination between the
different authorisation bodies has been shown to hinder
the deployment of energy from renewable sources. There
fore the specific structure of the renewable energy sector
should be taken into account when national, regional and
local authorities review their administrative procedures for
giving permission to construct and operate plants and
associated transmission and distribution network infra
structures for the production of electricity, heating and