Interview with Mariano Bacigalupo Sagesse professor of Administrative Law (UNED), counselor of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), member of the Board of Appeal of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) of the European Union, by Justo Corti Varela.
The European Union’s clean energy legislative package of December 2018 shows an important step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and carrying out a just, committed and social energy transition, to achieve a significant reduction in emissions by 2030. The transformation towards sustainable development is dependent on major changes in public agendas and policies, including the way in which we consume energy. The energy consumed from renewable sources accounts for barely the 20% of the total energy and it is not possible to expand its consumption without the introduction of new roles, as it is the case of renewable energy self-consumers. Tensions are inevitable in this transition, that affects not only the market, in which new actors and communities appear; but also has an impact on strategic interests, such as the need to guarantee supply, currently largely dependent on imports from fossil sources. The transition must be a source of progress and economic growth, as showed by the European Green Deal and the direction taken with the European Union’s recovery funds.