In the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, the S&D Group voted in favour of shortening the approval procedures for renewable energy projects in member states. The Socialists and Democrats also included high environmental standards to make sure speeding up the procedures will not come at the detriment of nature.

Nicolás González Casares, MEP and S&D negotiator on renewable energy, said:

“From now on, the approval process is limited to a period of 9 to 18 months, depending on the type of projects submitted. Households and enterprises planning to install solar panels on the roofs of their buildings will be able to obtain a permit within one month. As for solar installations of 50 KW or less, this will be done through a simple notification.

“The S&Ds want to see more renewable energy at affordable prices for our citizens and our economy. In the turbulent times we live in, dependency on imports from third countries can only be limited if we considerably shorten the time it takes to approve the rollout of a renewable energy infrastructure. This will be possible from now on thanks to our work and the new rules we adopted today in plenary. We want an active participation by citizens in local areas where infrastructure will be built. This will allow them to be informed of what is going on it their region and make it possible to include citizens in the elaboration of plans.

“Renewable energy is here to work for Europeans - it has to be at an affordable price for even the most vulnerable in society, and we have to make it work without a risk to biodiversity and protect Natura 2000 sites.”

Dan Nica, MEP and S&D spokesperson in the EP committee on industry, research and energy, said:

“The vote today is a strong signal that we are ambitious and determined to increase the energy resilience by faster implementation of projects for renewable energy. It was absurd to make Europeans wait so long for permissions to install solar panels on their houses while energy prices increased and there were no real alternatives to gas.  The EU has a pressuring need for clean and affordable energy. The more we produce it ourselves, the less we will depend on third countries, especially now in times of shock on the world markets. This makes it imperative for us to ease the administrative burden, especially on households. A more renewable-based energy system will not only make our economy more sustainable, but also more autonomous and resilient to external shocks.”