Last week, the European Commission released its communication on a 2030 climate and energy framework including targets, initiating a dramatic spike in both positive and negative media coverage of the question. The Commission’s proposed targets have created some controversy because, while they would require the EU to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent from the 1990 levels by 2030, the suggested 27% renewable energy target is considered unambitious by the renewable energy industry and green campaigners.

In the ensuing media reaction, numerous articles referred to EWEA, some even specifically quoting CEO Thomas Becker. In a Financial Times article, Becker was quoted: “The previously far-sighted and ambitious European Commission is a shadow of its former self, hiding behind the UK and other backward-looking member states and lobbies.” Becker’s quote was used to support the overall message of the article, which you can grasp through the article’s lead, “Brussels has taken a step back from the ambitious environmental agenda that made the EU a global green leader…”

The Guardian also published an article that referenced EWEA among other renewable energy associations and companies that were disappointed with the targets. An International New York Times article shared the EWEA opinion that policy makers are “easing up in their drive for more aggressive climate regulation.”

French newspaper Le Monde published an article that expressed satisfaction with the targets but also recognized that they could have been stronger, as environmental organizations and the European Greens would have preferred. It pointed out the belief that a truly ambitious goal for 2030 would have been a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Germany’s commitment to renewable energy was on display in a Deutsche Presse-Agentur article, in which German Chancellor Andrea Merkel identified “transforming the energy sector by dismantling nuclear power and boosting alternative energy sources” as a primary objective for her government coalition.