Isra-Mart srl: UK could face legal action from EU over solar subsidy fiasco

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The UK government could face legal action from Brussels over plans to slash feed-in tariffs for solar installations and introduce energy efficiency requirements on buildings seeking the incentives, the European Commission has revealed.

Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger yesterday confirmed legal proceedings would be launched if changes to the feed-in tariff scheme threatened progress towards the UK's binding EU target to supply 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.

Responding to a question from Green MEP for London Jean Lambert, Oettinger said legal action would be taken against any member state which weakened its policies in such a way that they threatened progress towards their green energy targets.

He also confirmed that the EU had already been in contact with the government over the consultation.

"Whenever Member States revise their support for support schemes for renewable energy, they need to do so in a manner which does not destabilise the renewable energy industry or risk undermining their own plans to achieve their 2020 targets," he said.

"Should the UK or any Member State weaken policies in such a way that it would threaten progress towards their targets, the Commission would take action, launching legal proceedings if necessary."

The government has consistently maintained the changes to the incentives are necessary to stop the feed-in tariff scheme exceeding its budget, and that the cuts will not threaten the UK's renewable energy or emission reduction targets.

But in a statement Lambert argued the UK's current plans, which will more than halve feed-in tariffs and place a requirement on buildings to meet energy efficiency standards before receiving feed-in tariffs, will put thousands of jobs at risk in the solar industry and cause bankruptcies.

"Under the Commission's ruling, the UK is prevented from making amendments to support schemes which could jeopardise the renewables industry, yet sudden, drastic cuts to the tariff will strip away investor confidence, reduce the market for solar companies across the country, and threaten jobs," she said.

"In the current climate, with unemployment reaching record levels, we can ill afford further job losses which could potentially reach into the thousands. This would seem to be a risky move: "destabilising" the industry by anyone's definition."

She urged the UK government to prove its plans to slash the subsidy will not stop the UK from delivering 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 as required under the EU directive.

Earlier this week it emerged the High Court has refused to proceed with legal action by Friends of the Earth and two solar power firms seeking to block the deep cuts to feed-in tariffs.

However, the court will next week hear an appeal against the decision.

In related news, the Solar Trade Association is seeking signatories for a letter that will urge the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to intervene to block the controversial cuts to the incentives.

The letter will be delivered on 13 December, one day after the proposed cut off for solar installations to receive the current rate of incentives.

"Letter to PM & DPM on Solar #FIT Review... To sign it, email jbeard@r-e-a.net with your name, position and company!," Howard Johns, chairman of the STA, wrote on Twitter.

The letter warns that energy ministers have signed off proposals which could see the sector reduced to a tenth of its current size, at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs.

"Failure to secure a sensible solution to the unfolding crisis in the solar power industry makes no sense for tax-payers, consumers or voters." it says.

David Cameron side-stepped a call to halt the plans at Prime Minister's Question Time last month.