Our minister Cécile Neven is adapting European rules to guarantee a credible, demanding and practically applicable climate transition.
To reconcile European climate ambition with realities on the ground, the Walloon Government, on the initiative of our minister Cécile Neven, is temporarily adapting the application framework of the new rules on sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Two transitional measures have been adopted to ensure an effective, realistic and legally secure implementation of the RED II bis directive in Wallonia.
In practical terms, in climate policy, our minister is giving operators, particularly cement producers, more time by easing reporting deadlines and procedures, notably in light of the shortage of qualified auditors. Companies that demonstrate they cannot immediately comply are granted an additional year to meet the new obligations.
In energy policy, Wallonia is granting a transitional period to renewable electricity producers using biomass, as permitted under the directive, so they can make the investments needed to meet the stricter criteria. This specific arrangement applies until 31 December 2030, giving stakeholders visibility and securing their projects.
These decisions come in a European context of rapidly tightening requirements on renewable energy, with a binding target of at least 42.5% renewable energy in the energy mix by 2030 and stricter sustainability criteria, particularly for biomass. Without these transitional measures, some stakeholders would have faced immediate and disproportionate consequences, both in terms of public support and their climate obligations.
With this decision, our minister Cécile Neven is defending a firm but workable climate transition that protects investment, jobs and competitiveness while strengthening the credibility of Walloon energy policy.
Cécile Neven, Walloon Minister for Energy: “With this decision, Wallonia guarantees an orderly transition towards strengthened sustainability criteria, in the service of a credible, demanding and practically applicable energy policy.”