The paper will look into challenges and opportunities connected with the change in the Polish government after the 2023 parliamentary elections. With the new coalition government willing to re-construct its European relations, there seem to appear new opportunities for accelerating the green transformation of the Polish economy. However, the structural constraints of a coal-dependent economy remain in place, with only some prospects for building nuclear plants in the upcoming years. We will be looking at coalition party manifestos, the coalition government agreement and new policies, in order to reconstruct feasible policy approaches and their consequences. As the coalition government is formed of many parties, we will include the divergencies between the parties that might impact final policies and results. The research questions will analyze the potential for change, mapping areas where the change seems more feasible and the ones where the change could be seen as requiring significant investment and time. The research hypothesis would be then to expect varying levels of change versus continuity in comparison with the previous government, depending on the area. The analysis will include materials mentioned above like party manifestos, and the coalition agreement, as well as some government official communication, government policies and parliamentary commissions documentation.

The European Union already plays a leading role in global action on climate and biodiversity and wants to set an example for the rest of the world. The goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, together with the EU, has already been declared by other countries, e.g. Japan and Korea. For Poland, the Green Deal is an opportunity to transition to a low-emission economy and move away from an economy that consumes non-renewable natural resources.

Energy transformation is a significant challenge for Poland, but it is also the direction in which the European Union is heading. In Poland, reducing the emission intensity of the economy will focus, among others in areas such as: energy system, construction, industry, transport, households. Due to the above, there are many problems that are key to solving in the areas of energy, construction, industry and transport.

The problems are related to the implementation of the law in specific areas, which is progressing too slowly. Poland faces new challenges in the perspective of the new government after the elections in autumn 2023.

In connection with the above, we can ask, among others, the following research questions: To what extent will there be progress in the implementation of legislation in the area of the European Green Deal? Are there any threats resulting from the time pressure set by the European Union towards the Member States? How will the European Green Deal affect the Polish economy? Does Poland have real chances to influence the implementation of EU law and the implementation of the European Green Deal within the new term of office of the European Union Institutions (EC, EP, Council, etc.).

The proposal paper will be an attempt to answer the problems posed and the above research questions.

Using comparative and doctrinal legal methods, this paper analyses the current legal challenges at European and national levels that prevent renewable energy communities from being set up or flourishing. These challenges remain not only in Italy, a member of the EU, but also in the UK, which continues the transition from EU retained law to its own national rules post-Brexit.

Renewable energy communities are legal entities – eg associations, cooperatives, partnerships, non-profit organisations or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – that allow citizens, public sector, third sector and commercial operators to collaborate in producing and distributing renewable energy based on the local needs. In this way, renewable energy communities can help not only with energy security and sustainability, but also with addressing energy poverty and the local social needs of that particular community.

Renewable energy communities have been largely introduced and regulated by the Directive on common rules for the Internal Market in Electricity 2019/944/EU and the Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU, as revised in 2023 by Directive 2023/2413 to align with the European Green Deal targets.

Although the United Kingdom has a tradition of grid-connected community energy projects dating back to 1990s, renewable energy communities in Italy are a relatively new phenomenon. Italy’s experience also highlights some of the common issues faced by other Member States in transposing EU law that does not require full harmonisation of self-consumption systems and renewable energy communities. Understanding these legal and regulatory challenges is crucial, if we are to tackle the challenges of energy security, energy poverty and greener future for all.