ABSTRACT
Europe, the European Union, and in particular some EU Member States are widely held to be frontrunners towards a sustainable energy future. For more than 20 years, Europe has been considered to be actively performing as a pro-active continent for global climate protection and related legal frameworks. The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005, was facilitated by perseverance of the European negotiators. Pushing towards an agreement they could build on a set of developed legal frameworks and on ongoing policy support. Increasingly, the enabling role of a strong policy framework, primarily on Member State level but coordinated and agreed on Union level, for renewable energy development became a major backbone of Europe’s strong position in favour of effective mitigation measures. Meanwhile, increased deployment of renewable energy has become the main element of greenhouse gas emission reduction in the European Union.
