Announced as part of the European Green Deal, the EU strategy for energy system integration aims to better link the different energy sectors in the EU — electricity, gas, buildings, transport, industry — to help them reduce carbon emissions.

In May 2020, RAP provided a contribution to the European Commission ahead of the publication of the strategy on 8 July 2020.

RAP noted that sector integration is required to ensure the beneficial electrification of end‑uses and the deployment of renewable power and distributed energy resources.

The role of electrification to drive decarbonisation in the transport and building sectors should be a primary focus of the EU sector integration strategy.

Guiding principles are needed to enable a smart integration:

1. Integrated planning should be operationalised across all dimensions.
2. The efficiency first principle should be enacted to assess the different options.
3. The distributional impacts – who pays and who benefits – should be assessed and steps taken to ensure low-income consumers do not get left behind.