National energy and climate plans (NECPS)

The National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) are an essential strategic planning tool to deliver a fair, resilient, and climate-neutral Europe, and to steer the much-needed investments for the climate and energy transition, helping to mobilise private and public spending.

The NECPs enable each EU country to outline precise actions and policies to achieve the 2030 climate and energy targets and fulfil the broader objectives of the Energy Union. Required under the Regulation (EU)2018/1999 on the governance of the energy union and climate action (Governance Regulation), the NECPs first took shape in 2020 and have since then been updated to incorporate the ambitious targets set by the European Green Deal, the Fit for 55 Package legislation and the RepowerEU plan.

The NECPs define how EU countries will tackle the five dimensions of the Energy Union:

• decarbonisation
• energy efficiency
• energy security
• internal energy market
• research, innovation and competitivenes

These plans necessitate coordinated efforts across government departments, creating a robust framework that catalyses public and private investment and supports a thorough implementation of the agreed policies. Each country shall submit a progress report every 2 years, according to the structure, format, technical details and process set out in the Implementing Regulation. The Commission will, as part of the state of the energy union report, monitor the EU’s progress as a whole towards achieving these targets.

To better develop and implement the plans, Member States were required to consult citizens, businesses and regional authorities in the drafting and finalisation process.

The governance regulation also required Member States to submit by the start of 2020 national long term strategies looking forward to 2050.

NECPs as a governance tool will be reviewed for the post-2030 period as part of the forthcoming revision of the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation.

The process

The adoption by the Member States of the final NECPS, follow an iterative process with the Commission. Under the Governance Regulation Member States have to submit their NECPs for the period 2021-2030 to the Commission. Member States first submitted their final NECPs in 2019 and then updated them in 2024 to reflect the increased EU 2030 climate and energy ambitions as set by the Fit for 55 legislative package and the RepowerEU plan.

Updating the NECPs 2021-2030

On 28 May 2025, the Commission published its EU-wide assessment of the final updated NECPs accompanied by a Staff Working Document with the individual assessment of 23 final updated NECPs submitted and evaluated to that date. The Commission assessment of the final updated plans of Estonia and Slovakia was published on 2 October 2025. Member States were due to submit these final updated NECPs by 30 June 2024, taking into account the Commission’s recommendations on the draft updated NECPs.

By 30 June 2023, Member States were due to submit their draft updated NECPs in line with article 14 of the Governance Regulation. The Commission had published guidance to Member States on the process and scope of this update in 2022.

On 18 December 2023, the Commission published its  EU-wide assessment of the draft updated NECPs, together with individual assessments and country-specific recommendations for the 21 Member States that submitted their draft plans in time. Six Member States submitted their draft updated NECPs at a later stage. The assessments and recommendations for those countries were published on 23 February 2024, 26 April 2024 and on 18 October 2024.

On 24 October 2023, the Commission published its technical assessment of the first NECP progress reports towards meeting the EU’s energy and climate objectives. The relevant Staff Working Document is part of the 2023 State of the Energy Union report.

Initial NECPs 2021-2030

Under the Governance Regulation Member States had to submit their draft NECPs for the period 2021-2030 to the Commission by 31 December 2018. These were analysed by the Commission with an overall assessment and country-specific recommendations published in June 2019. Taking these recommendations into account, Member States were then required to submit their final NECPs by 31 December 2019.

On 17 September 2020, the Commission published a detailed EU-wide assessment of the final NECPs. As a follow-up, and as part of the 2020 Energy Union report, the Commission published individual assessments of each of the national plans with further guidance.

Translator: Nguyễn Minh Đức

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