Current Europe-wide policies on renewable energy are not linked closely enough to rural development, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors, which took the Commission and member states to task for failing to take local needs into account.

The report by the Court of Auditors has warned that the EU could do more to link its renewable energy policies with rural development, just as the institutions start discussing updated rules for post-2020, insisting that there is a lot of untapped potential being squandered under the current framework.