From Goals to Action: Member States Must Now Step up and Deliver
The EU’s energy transition is slowly heading in the right direction, but a lack of follow-through from Member States is stalling progress
Brussels, 6th November 2025 – The State of the Energy Union published today reveals that the EU is making progress in terms of the deployment of renewable energy and energy savings, but it remains too slow.
The foundations are there, but the delivery towards the targets is being held back by an implementation gap at the national level. Key EU energy files such as the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), are not being sufficiently transposed or implemented by a significant number of Member States. Member States are also failing to sufficiently accelerate decarbonisation in key sectors falling under the Effort-Sharing Regulation (ESR). Unfortunately, the report does not encourage Member States to thoroughly implement the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) nor does it mention the fact that many did not sufficiently transpose the directive.
“ Europe’s energy transition is clearly underway, but the EU is off course on its trajectory towards reaching its 2030 energy targets. Member States must close the implementation gap at national level or risk jeopardising the EU’s energy security, affordability, and climate goals. It is time for Member States that are lagging behind to be held accountable.”
“The forthcoming Electrification Action Plan and Grids Package must spark a rapid shift to renewable power, modern grids, support renewables-based electrification, in parallel with stepping up on energy savings measures and fossil fuels phase-out to build a truly secure, affordable and resilient energy system for all.” – Seda Orhan, Head of Energy at CAN Europe
In terms of NECPs, civil society organisations, think tanks and even the European Commission itself identified significant flaws in the revised plans. A recent NGO analysis on 16 final revised NECPs casts serious doubts on their ability to deliver on the Member States’ respective climate and energy objectives, due to the lack of policies and measures and related financing to back them up.
“Today’s State of the Energy Union is a missed opportunity to act. The European Commission acknowledged significant gaps to deliver the 2030 climate and energy goals, but did not propose strong additional measures to ensure their achievement and correct any ambition gap. The upcoming 2026 review of the Governance Regulation should serve as a pivotal moment for the European Commission to enhance the EU’s climate and energy governance framework and ensure that future targets are met. In the meantime, it is now up to Member States to double down their efforts.” – Romain Didi, Governance Policy Expert at CAN Europe
