20 June 2018, Brussels. Last night negotiators from the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a deal on the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and on the Governance of the Energy Union Regulation (Governance).
The regulatory framework set by the EED for post 2020 foresees a non-binding energy efficiency target of 32.5% for 2030, an upward review clause of the target in 2023 and a mandatory sub-target of 0.8% of annual sales to final consumers. The text agreed is an improvement of the proposal of the European Commission and goes well beyond the Council positions.
“The EED deal falls short of potential. During the last months the role of progressive forces of the business community and civil society was paramount to outline the benefits of higher and binding targets to unlock the full economic, social and environmental potential of energy efficiency. We helped to go beyond some of the hesitations and doubts that still exists on energy efficiency however much more needs to be done. The EED lacks the strong political signal required by the business community to invest in the energy efficiency projects needed to decarbonize our economy” said Monica Frassoni, President of the European Alliance to Save Energy.
“Unfortunately, the deal reached on the Governance of the Energy Union Regulation” continued Monica Frassoni “reflects the lack of ambition in the EED”.
“A cost-effective 40% energy efficiency target would have been more adequate to align with the European commitments to the Paris Agreement. Energy efficiency is a key driver of the Europe energy transition. Europe and Member States will have to step up their efforts in the implementation phase and acknowledge the central role of energy efficiency if they have to transform Europe’s energy system and realize the emission reductions necessary to fulfill the Paris Agreement objective” concluded Harry Verhaar, Chairman of the European Alliance to Save Energy and Head of Global Public & Government Affairs at Signify.
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