Dear ITRE Committee Coordinators,
I am writing to you on behalf of the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE), a multi-sectoral business organisation whose members have operations across the 28 Member States of the European Union. Our members directly employ 340.000 people in Europe and have an aggregated annual turnover of €115 bn.
The Energy Union Governance Regulation is key for businesses. Robust and certain long-term governance in the realms of climate and energy is a key driver for any future business decisions because it guarantees an adequate implementation of EU energy efficiency legislations. In addition, it ensures the compatibility between short and long-term measures, thus providing certainty and predictability for investments taken by public and private stakeholders.
As such, in view of the forthcoming vote (January 17) on the Regulation on the Energy Union Governance we urge you to support the text as adopted by the ITRE and ENVI Committees and in particular Amendment 123cp, which establishes a comprehensive approach to long-term planning.
The 2030 and 2050 plans and strategies developed by Member states will play an important role in securing investments in Europe. In particular, the 2050 strategies will provide clarity about the market prospects in the long-run establishing regulatory stability, and with this, the business confidence necessary for investment and thus job growth. In this perspective and to boost investments, the long-term strategies should include the following elements included in the Amendment 123cp:
1. A binding template to allow for comparability of the different plans among Member States;
2. A deadline set in 2019 instead of 2020 to allow for the joint development of the 2030 plans and 2050 strategies and ensure consistency;
3. A target of net 0 greenhouse gas emission by 2050 to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Energy savings achieved through energy efficiency investments are a chief enabler of sustainable growth and the energy transition. The business community is extremely supportive and in need of a strong governance system, which represents the backbone of such transition and can guarantee the delivery of the targets, allow comparability, and ensure consistency between long-term goals and short-term decisions.
Yours sincerely,
Monica Frassoni