Assessment of policy pathways for reaching the EU target of (at least) 27% renewable energies by 2030

As an important first step in defining the framework for renewable energies (RE) within the European Union post 2020, a binding EU-wide target to achieve a renewables share of at least 27% of gross final energy demand by 2030 was adopted by the European Council and Parliament in October 2014. On 30 November 2016, the next step was taken: The European Commission published a package of proposed legislative measures for the time horizon from 2020 to 2030 called ""Clean Energy for all Europeans"", commonly referred to as the ""Winter Package"". It is aimed at facilitating the clean energy transition while developing the internal market for electricity, thus fostering the Energy Union. Within the scope of the Intelligent Energy Europe project ""towards2030-dialogue"" we have facilitated and guided the RE policy dialogue for the period up to 2030 over the past number of years. The dialogue process was coupled with in-depth and continuous analysis of relevant topics that included renewable energies in all energy sectors, but with more detailed analyses for renewable electricity. The analytical works included, for example, a first critical reflection on the Winter Package as well as a model-based analysis of distinct renewable electricity policy pathways up to 2030, including options for coordinating and aligning national support schemes as well as the clustering of regional support schemes. This chapter describes the approach taken and presents some of our key results together with recommendations on the way forward.