Policy Area Energy

Why?

The Baltic Sea Region faces the dual challenge of accelerating the transition to clean energy while strengthening energy security, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The region remains partially dependent on fossil fuels and vulnerable to external energy shocks. Simultaneously, the accelerating impacts of climate change underscore the necessity of a rapid, just, and systemic transition to clean energy.

The Member States call for significantly increasing the share of renewable energy across the macro-region, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening regional resilience, and contributing to the EU’s 2030 and 2050 climate and energy goals.

Shared resources such as the vast offshore wind potential in the Baltic Sea require joint planning, cross-border infrastructure, and harmonised permitting procedures. Increasing the share of renewables contributes directly to the objectives of the Strategy by fostering sustainable development, improving energy connectivity, and ensuring greater energy independence.

Renewable energy deployment in the Baltic Sea Region benefits greatly from macro-regional coordination. Macro-regional cooperation can accelerate innovation, align regulatory frameworks, and scale investments and achievements that individual countries alone could not reach as effectively.

This Action calls for initiatives towards

• more national authorities adopting streamlined permitting procedures to support renewable energy deployment
• more stakeholders independently aligning local and regional energy planning with macro-regional renewable energy objectives
• funding programmes increasingly supporting renewable energy integration and cross-border cooperation
• climate-mitigation and climate-adaptation considerations more strongly integrated into renewable energy planning and policies

Why?

The Baltic Sea Region faces growing challenges in maintaining energy security and system resilience due to geopolitical disruptions, aging infrastructure, and increasing shares of variable renewable energy. Simultaneously, the green transition demands rapid decarbonisation, greater electrification, and system flexibility. Fragmented energy markets, uneven infrastructure development, and limited interconnectivity between some Baltic Sea Region countries hamper efficient energy exchange, threaten energy affordability, and reduce the region’s ability to respond to crises or climate-induced disruptions.

There is a need to foster a well-integrated regional energy market, regional interconnectivity, enhancing energy system stability, resilience, and sustainability in the long term. No single Baltic Sea Region country can independently secure energy resilience or optimal market functioning in an interconnected grid, but robust and well-functioning national grids and markets are prerequisites for regional resilience and market functioning. Further integration enables better use of renewable potential across borders, more competitive pricing, and coordinated emergency responses, under the condition that national grids and markets are fit for purpose.

Enhanced interconnectivity, particularly via electricity and gas interconnectors, supports the Strategy’s objectives of sustainability, prosperity, and security. A common regional approach will strengthen trust, promote investment, and allow for joint planning and efficient resource use.

A critical added value is provided by BEMIP (Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan), which already functions as the main EU coordination platform for energy integration in the region. This Action will build on and complement BEMIP by linking its technical and infrastructure focus with broader Strategy’s objectives, ensuring that interconnection and market integration also deliver on climate, security, and socio-economic priorities. The combination of the Strategy and BEMIP provides a powerful framework to accelerate the green transition while strengthening solidarity and resilience.

This Action calls for initiatives towards

• more national and regional policies reflecting shared priorities for cross-border interconnectivity and market integration
• regional Transmission System Operators adopting coordinated grid planning procedures aligned with EU integration goals
• increased number and/or capacities of transnational energy interconnectors
• funding programmes increasingly supporting cross-border energy infrastructure and system-integration priorities
• climate resilience and mitigation integrated into regional energy strategies through targets on grid flexibility, renewable integration, and reduced system emissions across the Baltic Sea Region

Why?

The EU has committed to reducing final energy consumption by at least 11.7% by 2030 compared to 2020 projections. However, many Member States in the Baltic Sea Region are lagging in implementing effective and coordinated energy efficiency measures, particularly across sectors such as buildings, transport, and industry.

The urgency stems from growing energy demand, geopolitical instability affecting supply, and the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving energy efficiency targets is not only key to meeting climate obligations but also to reducing energy poverty, increasing competitiveness, and enhancing energy security.

Energy systems in the Baltic Sea Region are interdependent. Inefficient use of energy in one country affects the entire regional grid, markets, and overall resilience. Coordinated efforts are necessary to address shared challenges such as retrofitting building stock, deploying smart grids, and exchanging best practices across borders. Macro-regional cooperation enables aligned implementation of national energy and climate plans (NECPs), promotes knowledge transfer, and leverages synergies in funding, technologies, and regulatory frameworks.

This Action calls for initiatives towards

• more national or regional authorities integrating energy efficiency targets from NECPs to national plans
• stakeholders across Baltic Sea Region countries independently adopting Action-aligned practices, strategies or behavioural campaigns
• new macro-regional guidelines developed to harmonise energy performance requirements in public procurement
• funding programmes increasingly supporting energy efficiency priorities and cooperation across the macro-region
• climate-mitigation and climate-adaptation considerations more strongly integrated into energy efficiency planning and policy development