The European Parliament and EU Member States on 14 June struck a deal to increase the EU’s renewables target for 2030 to 32% of energy consumption. It was the culmination of months of intense political negotiations and is a good step forward for wind.

Back in October 2014 EU Heads of Government agreed the target be 27%, and that was the number the EU Commission tabled in its proposal for the new Renewables Directive in November 2016. But a lot has changed since then. Cost reductions and technology development in wind and other renewables have been dramatic. Onshore wind is now the cheapest form of new power generation and offshore is not far behind. Growing air quality concerns have made coal even less defensible. The Paris climate accord has further focused minds.

In the build-up to last week’s breakthrough Spain, Lithuania, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal all put their weight behind a 35% target. This was decisive in shifting the dynamics in favour of more ambition. Though lower than the 35% WindEurope, the European Parliament and the most progressive governments had been asking for, this agreement means the EU understands the need to stay in the race for global competitiveness on renewables.

The Renewables Directive, one of the key pillars of the Clean Energy Package, is not just about the target itself. It also sets out concrete measures to help ensure countries deliver on the target. The Directive will provide rules on the design of support mechanisms to provide investor certainty. Countries will be allowed to have technology-specific auctions, which is key to being able to plan their energy transition effectively. They will also have to provide at least five years’ visibility on public support, including the timing, volumes and budget for auctions. This will provide much-needed certainty to the supply chain on when and where to invest.

The Directive also includes an investment protection clause preventing retroactive policy changes from impacting existing renewable energy projects, such as we have seen before in Spain for example. Permitting procedures for new and repowered installations will also be simplified with shorter deadlines for swifter build-out.

In another breakthrough this week, negotiators struck a deal on the Governance Regulation. This requires EU countries to submit national energy and climate plans by 31 December 2019 showing how they will contribute to the binding collective 32% target. The national plans will detail how much renewable energy countries will deploy and when. Countries will also need to say what they propose to do with their renewable energy capacity that will reach the end of its operational life between now and 2030. They’ll also need to set out how they will ensure sufficient flexibility in their energy system to accommodate more renewables, e.g. via demand response, electrification, storage and grid interconnections with neighbouring countries.

Investments in manufacturing, skills and R&D only happen when governments give long-term visibility. Countries such as the Netherlands, which have put in legislation the new wind volumes they want every year up to 2030, are sending the right signals. When Portugal defined its own ambitious new wind volumes back in 2008, Senvion and Enercon went and built factories there. This clarity then helps bring down costs.

The Clean Energy Package is not yet fully wrapped up. We still have negotiations on market design to come. But the fact that we have a deal on some of the most politically-sensitive files is very encouraging. It means that wind will play an increasing role Europe’s energy mix. It means that we will stay in the race for global competitiveness. It means that there will be more jobs and investment in wind. And it means more communities in Europe will benefit from the local benefits of the wind industry.

Giles Dickson is the chief executive of wind industry group WindEurope