The Joint Research Centre published a report which shows that Member States plan to reach an overall share of 20.7% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. Even more, Member States are planning to exceed their own targets and will therefore be able to provide surpluses for other Member States.

The report published by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) shows that Member States plan to reach an overall share of 20.7% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. Moreover, the JRC's assessment shows that almost half of the Member States are planning to exceed their own targets and will therefore be able to provide surpluses for other Member States. The report is based on the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) and it is a technical assessment of the plans which Member States have submitted to the European Commission to provide detail on their national targets in renewable energy production and how they intend to reach them. In November 2011, the Commission begun the evaluation of 44 projects to be funded under Intelligent Energy Europe Programme.

According to the report, the share of electricity from renewable energy sources in the EU is planned to reach 34% (up from 15%) for electricity generation, 21.4% (up from 10%) for the provision of heating and cooling, and 1.7% (up from 1.4%) for transport. The renewable energy sources mix is composed of biomass and biofuel (almost 60%), hydro energy (12%), onshore wind (12%), offshore wind (12%), photovoltaic (2.3%) and solar thermal (2.4%).

On the other hand, the European Commission confirmed that on 7 February 2012 Commission officials undertook unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in managing power exchanges in several Member States. Power exchanges provide services that facilitate electricity trading at wholesale level. The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices (Articles 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – TFEU - and Article 53 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area - EEA).