EN EN EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, XXX COM(2011) 885/2 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Energy Roadmap 2050 {SEC(2011) 1565} {SEC(2011) 1566} {SEC(2011) 1569} EN 2 EN 1. INTRODUCTION People's well-being, industrial competitiveness and the overall functioning of society are dependent on safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy. The energy infrastructure which will power citizens' homes, industry and services in 2050, as well as the buildings which people will use, are being designed and built now. The pattern of energy production and use in 2050 is already being set. The EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80-95% below 1990 levels by 2050 in the context of necessary reductions by developed countries as a group1. The Commission analysed the implications of this in its "Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050".2 The "Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area"3 focussed on solutions for the transport sector and on creating a Single European Transport Area. In this Energy Roadmap 2050 the Commission explores the challenges posed by delivering the EU's decarbonisation objective while at the same time ensuring security of energy supply and competitiveness. It responds to a request from the European Council4. The EU policies and measures to achieve the Energy 2020 goals 5 and the Energy 2020 strategy are ambitious.6 They will continue to deliver beyond 2020 helping to reduce emissions by about 40% by 2050. They will however still be insufficient to achieve the EU's 2050 decarbonisation objective as only less than half of the decarbonisation...
