According to the statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), the share of renewable energy sources in the gross final energy consumption of the European Union reached 17% in 2016, which is twice the 2004 share (8.5%). The current EU objective is to source 20% of energy in gross final consumption from renewable energy by 2020 and 27% by 2030.
The share of renewables in final energy consumption improved in 15 out of the 28 EU member states: Sweden had the highest share in 2016 with nearly 54% of its energy consumption coming from renewable energy sources, followed by Finland (nearly 39%) and Latvia (over 37%). At the opposite, the lowest proportions were observed in Luxembourg (5.4%), Malta and the Netherlands (both 6%).
The Netherlands and France are currently the countries, which are the furthest away from their 2020 goals: the Netherlands aims 14% of renewables by 2020 (lagging 8 percentage points), while France targets 23% (17% in 2016). On the opposite, 11 countries have already met their 2020 target, while Austria is less than 1 percentage point away (33.5% vs. 34% target).
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