The EU’s energy commissioner says things are moving forward in Norway’s implementation of the renewable energy directive

– Things are moving forward, and we really appreciate that, she adds Today’s Business. She also confirms that she has discussed the matter with Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap).

It was in March that Simson set August 13 as the deadline for introducing the EU’s renewables directive in Norway. If the directive was not introduced by then, the EU threatened “all necessary steps that may have to be taken to preserve the integrity of our common internal market”.

The deadline was not met, but there have so far been no reactions from the EU. However, Simson is happy that the issue has now been given greater priority in Norway, and she does not think it was counterproductive to set a deadline, despite several strong reactions from Norwegian politicians.

– I believe it was necessary to remind our Norwegian counterparts that this is an agreement we have under the EEA. What I see now is more commitment to the issue.

The directive is part of the EU’s fourth energy market package, also called the Clean Energy Package. It was adopted in the EU in 2018 and 2019, but has not yet been introduced in Norway. Through the EEA Agreement, Norway is obliged to incorporate new EU regulations as quickly as possible. If that does not happen, the EU can refer to Article 102 of the EEA Agreement and put all or parts of the policy area out of force.