Extract of the Introduction

Since the adoption of both the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement in 2015, the European Union has started analyzing ways in which it could achieve the carbon-neutral society ruled by the 2015 Conventions. In light of the Conventions, the European Union has worked into implementing the strategies, such as the European Green Deal, in order to contribute to a carbon-neutral society and economy, thus “empowering consumer for the energy transition”. In particular, the Green Deal, addressing into its scopes the fight for energy poverty among European households, enhances the supply of clean, affordable and secure energy, thus helping “households that cannot afford key energy services to ensure a basic standard of living”. 

At the same time, in June 2021, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have adopted the European Climate Law Regulation which rules in Article 2 that “union-wide greenhouse gas emissions and removals regulated in Union law shall be balanced within the Union at the latest by 2050, thus reducing emissions to net zero by that date, and the Union shall aim to achieve negative emissions thereafter”. This Regulation also sets out as principle that the Union, while aiming to achieve its targets, shall take into consideration the “energy efficiency and the “energy efficiency first” principle, energy affordability and security of supply”.