Europe does not have a common Energy Plan, since energy decisions on the form of production and/or management of generation resources are the responsibility of the countries and it is not a capacity ceded to the European Commission.
Nevertheless the Commission has the capacities and responsibilities in the promotion of research, technological development and innovation to evolve from the current energy system to a system based primarily on renewable technologies.
The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) aims to improve new technologies and reduce costs by coordinating national research efforts and helping to finance energy projects. The SET Plan promotes research and innovation efforts across Europe by supporting the most impactful technologies in transforming the EU into a low-carbon energy system. It promotes cooperation between EU countries, companies, research institutions and the EU itself.
The SET Plan aims to accelerate the transformation of the European Energy System. Research, innovation and competitiveness are one of the five dimensions of the Commission’s Energy Union strategy. The integrated SET Plan is part of a new European approach to promote the Energy Research, Technology Development and Innovation (R&D & I) designed to accelerate the transformation of the EU Energy System and to bring to the market new promising energy technologies with Zero emissions.
In September 2015, the Commission published a Communication that defines the new European Strategy for research and innovation for the next few years. The Integrated SET Plan is based on the Energy Union strategy and highlights the areas in which the EU needs to strengthen cooperation between the countries and stakeholders of the Integrated SET Plan bringing new, efficient and profitable low-carbon technologies to the market in a faster and more cost-competitive way.