On Tuesday 13 July 2022, the ITRE committee of the European Parliament adopted its position to revise the Energy Efficiency Directive, a key file of the Fit for 55 package to put the EU on track towards reducing at least 55% of GHG emissions by 2030 and phase out fossil fuel imports from Russia.

Exactly one year after the presentation by the Commission of the ‘Fit for 55%’ package, aimed to put the European Union on track to reduce GHG emissions by at least 55% in 2030, the ITRE committee acknowledges that energy efficiency must be substantially increased to combat climate change and make the European Union less dependent on energy imports.

In view of today’s energy crisis, MEPs in the ITRE committee agreed to set energy efficiency binding targets for the Union and for the Member States, both for primary and final energy consumption by 2030. This is a very timely and long-awaited approach that we strongly support.

Monica Frassoni, President of the Alliance, said: “We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of this energy price crisis. Without a strong policy signal from the EU to put energy savings first, citizens and businesses will suffer the consequences. And the climate crisis is even more worrying with natural catastrophes impacting our lives on a daily basis. There is an opportunity in the plenary of the Parliament to fix the shortcomings of the Directive and in particular the exclusion of mandatory renovation of social housing and the partial consideration of energy efficiency savings from fossil fuel appliances. We look forward to continuing to cooperate with the Institutions to improve the directive. There is a good basis to work with and succeed, no ifs and buts, to structurally address both energy and climate crisis”.

You can find the full press release here

Media contact:
Antoan Montignier
+32 499 84 97 28
antoan.montignier@euase.eu

About us The European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) is a cross-sectoral, business-led organisation that ensures that the voice of energy efficiency is heard across Europe. EU-ASE members have operations across the 27 Member States of the EU, employ over 340.000 people in Europe and have an aggregated annual turnover of €115 billion.