Slovakia, like other member states, missed its 15 March deadline to send its report listing its progress in meeting its climate and renewable targets to the European Commission, EURACTIV Slovakia reported.

The report on the progress of the National Climate and Energy Plan (NECP) summarises to what extent a member state is on track to meet its climate and renewables target and must be sent to the European Commission every two years.

Slovakia missed the deadline because of the complexity of biennial reporting and the technical problems encountered when entering data into the new information systems of DG ENER and DG ENVI, the Slovak Economy Ministry said.

“The missing data will be completed as soon as possible. We have informed the European Commission in advance about the expected partial delay,” the ministry’s press department told EURACTIV Slovakia. Asked when they plan to send or publish the report, the ministry replied that it would be after “completion and verification of all reported data and the report itself.”

Other EU member states have also delayed sending the report.

While only Finland and the Netherlands respected the deadline for the progress report, only 15 countries have delivered their NECP implementation reports as of the day of publication.

Meanwhile, EU member states must submit updates to their National Energy and Climate Plans by June.

Slovakia’s plan, which was created in 2019, must thus be adapted to align with the new EU climate target of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and taking into account the “REPowerEU” strategy to reduce the dependence on fuel imports from Russia.

In December 2022, the Commission issued guidance on what conditions member states should meet in the new plans. They must use the so-called European Semester, an annual assessment given to countries by the European Commission, as a baseline for writing new energy plans.

In its latest recommendations, the Commission warned Slovakia that it was not sufficiently implementing renewable energy sources to help “reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports from Russia and mitigate the risk of energy poverty.”

(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)