El desarrollo de las energías renovables marinas en el marco de la unión europea. Análisis jurídico de los principales retos y desafíos ambientales y sociales

Abstract

The recent EU regulatory proposals for promoting the rapid expansion of renewable energies in general, and -given the high potential of European seas-, of marine renewable energies in particular, aim at rationalization and procedural simplification. This, however, can clash with environmental interests and values on protection of biodiversity and the marine environment that are also pursued by other normative instruments of EU law. Likewise, in order to achieve a just energy transition (mainly from the perspective of distributive justice and procedural justice) aligned with an energy democracy; the deployment of these technologies cannot ignore affected local coastal communities and the traditional sectors of the sea, which fear that their livelihoods be threatened. In this paper we analyze from a legal point of view these environmental and social challenges faced by the development of marine renewable energies, proposing alternative solutions.