A coalition of international NGOs, including Cyprus’ Terra Cypria, filed coordinated complaints to the European Commission in April 2025, highlighting “systematic failures” in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of three EU member states:
Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta.
The complaints, which were coordinated by CAN Europe, bring to light evidence that these countries are breaching EU law—by submitting climate policies that fail to meet binding targets, lack transparency on the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, and fail to ensure public participation in the preparation of the plans.
Previous complaints regarding “illegal” NECPs were filed to the European Commission in November 2024 by France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Sweden.
What are NECPs?
NECPs are strategic roadmaps outlining the targets, policies and measures each EU member state will take to achieve its climate and energy commitments for the period 2021–2030. They are built around five main pillars:
- decarbonization
- energy efficiency
- energy security
- the internal energy market
- research, innovation, and competitiveness
Essentially, NECPs are a vital tool for turning the EU’s Green Deal into real, trackable action—especially as Europe pushes toward climate neutrality by 2050.
Cyprus
Terra Cypria criticises Cyprus’ revised NECP—which was submitted six months after the deadline, prompting a warning letter to Cypriot authorities—as lacking ambition and failing to meet its binding emissions target of 32% reduction by 2030 compared with 2005. Instead, Cyprus’ maximum projected emissions reduction is 26%—well below the target.
The NGO also points to lack of clarity for how and when fossil fuel subsidies will be phased out. Whereas the EU requires them to be gradually eliminated and invested instead in clean energy solutions, the Cypriot government continues to subsidise heating oil for energy-poor households. The organisation notes that while providing short-term economic relief, this policy traps citizens in an unsustainable energy model, and will prove a burden to them and the environment in the long run.
According to the European Environment Agency, Cyprus is among the EU member states with the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions.
Black Carbon Media 