fsr.eui.eu POLICY BRIEF e European Union Energy Transition: Key Priorities for the Next Five Years By Simone Tagliapietra (Bruegel), Georg Zachmann (Bruegel), Ottmar Edenhofer (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), Jean-Michel Glachant (Florence School of Regulation), Pedro Linares (Universidad Pontificia Comillas), Andreas Loeschel (University of Muenster), Highlights 1 • Over the last decade, the European Union has pursued a proac- tive climate policy and integrated a significant amount of renew- able technologies – such as solar and wind – into the established energy system. • These efforts have proved successful, and continuing along this pathway, increasing renewables and improving energy efficiency, would not require substantial policy shifts. • The EU now needs a much deeper energy transformation to: 1. decarbonise in line with the Paris agreement 2. seize the economic and industrial opportunities offered by this global transformation 3. develop an EU approach to energy competitiveness and security, as the EU has neither the United States’ shale potential nor China’s top-down investment possibilities. 1. e authors would like to thank Laszlo Varro, Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency, for ideas and comments. Issue 2019/12 July 2019