Tomorrow EU leaders will discuss what the latest global challenges mean for Europe. They want Europe to strengthen its competitiveness, energy security and national security. They'll also discuss the EU's 2040 climate target and how to simplify regulation to boost growth. They should give ambitious signals on renewables - renewables tick the boxes on security and competitiveness. And the rules that affect the build-out of wind should be kept as simple as possible. In other words: EU Member States should stick to the existing rules.
EU leaders meet in the European Council tomorrow (Oct 23) to discuss the latest global geopolitical challenges and what they mean for Europe. They'll focus on how Europe can strengthen its competitiveness, energy security and national security. The Summit will also discuss the EU's 2040 climate change target. And how to simplify EU regulation to help economic growth and investment.
Wind energy is at the heart of all of this. Wind is competitive, home-grown and scalable. It means cheaper electricity which reduces energy costs for industry. It reduces Europe's dependence on fossil fuel imports and strengthens its security.
2040 climate target: clear wind energy volumes needed
EU leaders will aim to agree on the EU's 2040 greenhouse gas reduction target, a crucial milestone on the path to climate-neutrality by 2050. An ambitious 2040 target will mean more renewables and a more electrified energy system - so is good for Europe's competitiveness and security.
The 2040 climate target is an investment signal. As Ursula von der Leyen said today, global cleantech markets are booming. Investors have a choice of where to build wind farms and factories. Europe will miss out if it doesn't agree on an ambitious 2040 target.
Once the target is set, Europe then needs to define how much renewables it wants, crucially, how much it plans to build each year. This granular long-term visibility is what really triggers investments. And it needs to be technology-specific. Just having a single generic low-carbon target wouldn't deliver.
Simplification: keep it simple
19 EU leaders have called for far-reaching measures to simplify EU regulation. Simplification is great. There is too much unnecessary bureaucracy - take permitting procedures for wind energy projects or the hundreds of GWs stuck in grid connection queues across Europe.
But where existing rules are clear and simple, leave them that way. And don't move the goalposts when Member States are implementing the existing rules and industry is ready to invest. And don't bring in new "simpler" rules that are then impossible to deliver. It may be tempting to further cut the deadlines for permitting wind farms. But the existing 2-year rule is already ambitious. Reducing it further would mean cutting corners with local communities, and you just can't build wind farms that way.
Electrification: Europe is falling behind
EU Heads of Government must follow their Energy Ministers who on Monday recognised direct electrification as the centrepiece of Europe's energy future.
It's cheaper to run things on electricity than on fossil fuels. And most things in industry, transport and heating you can run on electricity. But Europe isn't electrifying - the share of electricity in the energy mix has been stuck at (only) 23% for 10 years. China is now at 30% - they get it.
The EU's Electrification Action Plan, due Q1 2026, will play a key role in driving electrification. And expanding and optimising Europe's electricity grids is central to this. Bring on the EU Grids Action Plan next month!
Read the full press release on our website
ABOUT WINDEUROPE
WindEurope is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind energy across Europe. We have over 600 members from across the whole value chain of wind energy; wind turbine manufacturers; component suppliers; power utilities and wind farm developers; financial institutions; research institutes and the national wind energy associations.
For additional questions, please contact:
Christoph Zipf
WindEurope
Press & Communications Manager
christoph.zipf@windeurope.org
+32 492 25 48 38
October 23, 2025
