EU ministers agree to include energy self-sufficiency in recovery plans

BRUSSELS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The ministers of finance and economic affairs of the European Union (EU) member states, meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, agreed to include energy self-sufficiency in their national recovery and resilience plans.

REPowerEU, a plan proposed by the European Commission in May, aims at strengthening the Union's strategic autonomy by diversifying energy supplies, thus weaning the bloc off its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. It also aims to boost energy saving and the production of clean energy.

"In practical terms, the proposal seeks to add a new REPowerEU chapter to EU member states' national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) under NextGenerationEU (the EU's economic recovery package) in order to finance key investments and reforms, which will help achieve the REPowerEU objectives," according to the EU Council.

An additional 20 billion euros (19.9 billion U.S. dollars), originating 75 percent from the Innovation Fund and 25 percent from frontloading EU Emission Trading System (ETS) allowances, will be included in the Resilience and Recovery Fund's financial envelope.

The allocation key related to the distribution of the extra 20 billion euros will include factors such as cohesion policy, member states' dependence on fossil fuels and the increase in investment prices.

The REPowerEU proposal will now have to be discussed by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.