Letter to President Juncker: 35 companies and business associations call for a relevant role of energy efficiency in the Investment Plan for Europe

Dear President Juncker,

Dear Vice-President Katainen,

As representatives of progressive companies and not-for-profit organizations working in Brussels to promote improved energy efficiency, we very much welcome your promised focus on improving Europe’s competitiveness and stimulating investment for the purpose of job creation. With private sector investment in Europe at one third of its 2007 levels, we face a crisis of confidence for businesses investing in Europe.

Choices made now in the Investment Package have the ability to materially change that sentiment. But it would be a mistake to pursue growth at any cost. The New Climate Economy Report shows that environmentally sound and socially inclusive growth is possible – there is no trade off. As such we believe that for the Jobs, Growth and Investment Package to deliver on its promise to quickly improve competitiveness in Europe, it must pass two key tests:

• Impact – The package must have a focus on sectors and projects that can deliver growth in the short term – and maximise the use of underutilised capacity in the European economy through delivering a high job creation potential.

• Sustainability – The package must be sustainable in the widest sense, delivering long-term economic benefits by improving business competitiveness; delivering visible improvements in the welfare of European citizens; and contributing to improved environmental performance of the EU economy.

Energy efficiency is a strong candidate on both fronts.et 

As such we urge you to include in the Jobs, Growth and Investment Package a clear focus on improving European energy efficiency and a clear commitment to increase the financial provision for technical assistance and access to low cost loans to enable Member States to develop a strong pipeline of projects.

We also need a clear commitment to continuing to roll out smart regulation, such as the Ecodesign Directive – which Commission analysis indicates will cut European consumer energy bills by around €110bn per year through reduced energy use and increase revenues to industry and the wholesale and retail sectors by €54 billion in 2020 – to further improve European competitiveness.

The investment package should aim to untangle the silos of specific procurement schemes and provide flexibility to finance technologies that taken together could have a “multiplier effect”. There are obvious synergies between digital, smart grid and energy efficiency technologies in a building or in an industrial plant, therefore the investment focus must take into account the value of these synergies between sectors. 

Finally, to truly embed energy efficiency across the EU economy, we urge you to include increased energy productivity in Member States as part of the broader structural reforms under consideration. In this way the short term impact of the Package help deliver long term impacts through improving the economic performance of the EU in the long-term, delivering millions of jobs across the EU in the process.

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EU-ASE Activity Report 2014

  • 55 articles on Brussels based, national and international online and printed media

  • 7 events with European Commission, Parliament, diplomats & businessmen

  • 10 speaking slots for President and members at public events

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EU-ASE Recommendations for the EU Jobs, Growth, and Investment Package

The European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) welcomes the Jobs, Growth, and Investment Package that Commission President Juncker intends to present in the context of the upcoming Europe 2020 review.

We appreciate the opportunity to offer recommendations to incorporate energy efficiency in the Package. Energy efficiency measures deserve top consideration for inclusion in the Package simply because they are proven to maximise return on investment and to foster robust job creation. The mechanisms to implement them already exist and can be scaled up without delay.

In this short paper, we highlight the potential of energy efficiency to create jobs, promote and protect growth, and we outline six specific proposals for incorporating energy efficiency into the Package.

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Fourth Annual EU-ASE High-Level Dinner Debate

How to realize the EU’s energy efficiency potential within the EU Climate and Energy Package 2030

Leading businesses call for an ambitious EU-wide binding energy savings target for 2030.

On 14 October 2014, a broad range of European companies, large and SMEs, operating in diverse sectors, gathered in the European Parliament for the Fourth Annual High-Level Dinner Debate, organized by the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE). Leading businesses called on EU Heads of State and Government, due to gather in Brussels for a European Council on 23 and 24 October, to support an ambitious EU wide binding energy savings target for 2030.

The creation of a fully functioning energy-efficiency market in the EU is currently being undermined by continuing uncertainty over the future legal framework for energy efficiency; notably the lack of long term targets. These would provide security for investment and create the conditions vital to innovation and the maintenance of our technical advantages. Under existing policies, two-thirds of economically viable energy efficiency potential available between now and 2035 will remain unrealized.

If fully exploited, energy efficiency could make EU GDP grow by 1.1%, but with current efforts by Member States, it is expected to be only 0.25%. The Fourth annual EU-ASE High-Level Dinner Debate therefore focuses on:

  • The role of a binding target for energy efficiency in anticipation of the final decision to be taken by the European Council in late October 2014 in the context of the EU Climate and Energy Package 2030;
  • The full realization of market potential of the companies involved.

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Infografica: Dare valore ai numeri: cosa comporta per l’Europa un target di efficienza energetica al 30% entro il 2030

Dare valore ai numeri:

cosa comporta per l’Europa un target di efficienza energetica al 30% entro il 2030

Le automobili europee 28% a maggior basso consume rispetto al 1995

L’industria europea ha migliorato l’efficienza energetica 10% rispetto agli USA tra 2001 e 2011

Il consumo delle nuove abitazioni 40% energia in meno rispetto a 20 anni fa

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