The European Parliament has approved a draft legislation that will lighten the procedure for obtaining permits for renewable production plants, such as solar panels and mills, or adapting existing ones. The project was put forward to reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports from Russia. In addition, it amends the directives on renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy performance of buildings, which are also being revised within the “Fit for 55” package.

Renewable acceleration areas

In their amendments to the Commission’s proposal, parliamentarians have shortened the maximum deadline for the approval of new installations, from twelve to nine months, if they are located in the so-called “renewable acceleration areas”. These zones will be determined by each State according to its capacity to advance in that zone. If the competent authority does not reply within the prescribed period, the permit shall be deemed to have been granted, in accordance with the principle of ‘positive administrative silence’.

Outside these areas, the procedure may not take more than eighteen months – instead of the 24 months of the initial proposal. As for the adaptation of existing plants to increase their power, MEPs want the granting of permits to take no more than six months.

When laying down rules for the designation of renewable acceleration zones, Member States should avoid or minimise negative environmental impact. Natura 2000 sites, parks and nature reserves, as well as migratory routes for birds and marine mammals, with the exception of artificial and constructed surfaces such as rooftops, car parks or transport infrastructure, shall be excluded. The deputies also added provisions to ensure consultation with the population before choosing the place to install a plant and to designate the acceleration zones.

Solar installations and heat pumps

The proposal also includes an obligation for EU countries to ensure that permits to install solar power equipment in buildings are delivered within three months. For installations below 50 kW, notification shall suffice. The installation of solar equipment would be exempt from the obligation of prior environmental impact assessment, as decided by the deputies.

On the other hand, for the installation of heat pumps, the authorization period must not exceed one month.

To bring more renewable energy to the grid without delay, parliamentarians also incorporated elements of a recent Commission proposal presented under the “urgency procedure”, which will allow most of the provisions to enter into force as early as 2023.

Markus Pieper (European People’s Party, Germany), responsible for the parliamentary processing of the proposal, said: “Today we are laying the foundations to permanently accelerate permitting processes, so that we can use renewable energy more quickly and thus boost the energy transition. We have introduced new measures that give Member States and their authorisation authorities more leeway, such as the principle of ‘positive administrative silence’ in acceleration zones, as renewable energy projects are of overriding public interest and can benefit from simplified assessment to obtain specific derogations in EU environmental legislation.”