Equipped with the knowledge of the emission reduction targets emerging from international negotiations and agreements on climate change, a number of examinations and studies have been conducted for the last few years to better understand the instruments and possible paths of devel- opment through which the European economy could be decarbonised – equivalent to cutting the emissions of greenhouse gases by 80%. Based on studies on the decarbonisation of the European economy, below we review the emission reduction potential of different sectors, then we present the main instruments for decarbonisation and introduce a number of possible decarbonisation scenarios.