“Citizens need to be involved to ensure a transparent discussion on the choices that are being made when it comes to decisions between investing in new infrastructure or more retrofitting.”

 

Monica Frassoni, EU-ASE President

The opening session started with the speech of Dominique Ristori (DG ENER) which was followed by Denis Naughten (Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment), Miguel Arias Cañete (European  Union’s Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy) and  Sean Kelly (MEP), who agreed that the on-going negotiations and the implementation of the Clean Energy Package should keep focus on placing the empowered consumers at the center of the energy transition.

EU-ASE President Monica Frassoni was invited to take part in the High-level discussion on “The Role of consumers in the energy transition”, together with Michael Losch (Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, Austria), Garrett Blaney (CEER), Monique Goyens (BEUC) and Kristian Ruby (Eurelectric), and moderated by Dominique Ristori (DG ENER).

During her intervention, Ms Frassoni stressed the importance of the inclusion of the energy efficiency first principle in the Regulation of the Governance of the Energy Union as a key novel element that will help ensure that the consumers are able to play an active role in the energy transition. “Energy efficiency first is not a PR concept, but a principle that should guide the implementation and investment decisions” she emphasized.

“Citizens need to be involved to ensure a transparent discussion on the choices that are being made when it comes to decisions between investing in new infrastructure or more retrofitting.”

 

Monica Frassoni, EU-ASE President

Regarding the Clean Energy Package for All Europeans, she stressed that some progress has been made with the adoption of the recast Energy Efficiency Directive, but underlined the need to increase the energy efficiency target by 2023, as a possibility given by the upwards revision clause.

“Citizens need to be involved to ensure a transparent discussion on the choices that are being made when it comes to decisions between investing in new infrastructure or more retrofitting” she stressed, and pointed out the difference of these choices in terms of their financial impact but also in terms of their impact on citizens health and the quality of life. Ms Frassoni informed the audience about the European Commission’s Impact Assessment, which stated that every percentage point increase in the 2030 energy efficiency target would mean lifting millions of people out of energy poverty and called on the Commission to show more ambition in the future. In her intervention she also gave an example of very low interest for green mortgages and stressed the need to create the sense of urgency among consumers that more ambitious legislations is needed and that that it is good for the consumers, their quality of life and for the environment.

“Energy efficiency first is not a PR concept, but a principle that should guide the implementation and investment decisions.”

 

Monica Frassoni, EU-ASE President

EU-ASE President concluded by stressing that the European Alliance to Save Energy is calling for energy efficiency to be perceived as an integral part of the future energy system with an ultimate aim to benefit European citizens.

On 18th September, the European Alliance to Save Energy held its 6^th Annual Dinner debate. This year the event gathered EU-ASE business members and high-level guests including top climatologist Prof. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, and MEPs Kathleen van Bremptand Bendt Bendtsen, both Honorary Members of EU-ASE.

The dinner focused on how to leverage the Multi Annual Financial Framework (MFF) post 2020 to fully implement the EU climate and energy legislation in view of achieving net zero emissions  by 2050.

“We can do it, we can change the point of view on climate and make EU countries have this in their minds.”

Bendt Bendsten, MEP and Honorary Member of EU-ASE

In his keynote speech, Professor van Ypersele confirmed that “limiting global temperature to 2ºC is outdated – we need more ambition” and underlined that a much more efficient use of energy and lifestyle changes towards energy consumption are key to tackle climate change. He also added that we are running short of time: “the more we wait, the more difficult it will be to reverse the problem.”

Following the keynote speech, the EU-ASE members welcomed Ms van Brempt, who underlined that “the sign of hope for the future is that we are all sitting here today to talk about climate“. Her speech was followed by Mr Bendtsen, who agreed with Prof. van Ypersele, stressing that the “ambition is still not high enough” and added that “it is still possible to change the view on climate issues of some EU countries”.

EU-ASE members took part to the debate to call for integration of the Energy Efficiency First principle into the EU Long-term Energy and Climate Strategy;  a climate proof budget post 2020 to leverage private investments;  and net zero emissions target by 2050 at the latest to pave the way towards a decarbonised economy.

The event, held 10-11 July in Brussels, gathered several experts and policy makers from the energy, climate and environment framework

Monica Frassoni, President of the European Alliance to Save Energy, took part yesterday in the European Commission’s stakeholder event ‘EU’s vision for a modern, clean and competitive economy’, as a speaker in the panel ‘Cost-efficient ways for achieving a post-carbon European economy’. Apart from Ms Frassoni, the panel, whose titfeatured a high-level list of experts from the sector, representing the policy, business and NGO voices:  EU Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen; Ignacio S. Galán, Chairman and CEO of Iberdrola; Dr. Johannes Teyssen, CEO of E.ON; Giles Dickson, CEO, WindEurope; David Turk, Acting Director, Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks of the International Energy Agency; and Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe.

During her intervention, Ms Frassoni stressed the very important moment the European Union is currently facing in terms of integration and that setting a long-term strategy with clear and concrete milestones should be at the top of the list of the Union’s priorities. She also addressed the necessary partnership between energy efficiency and the rest of actors in the energy transition, such as renewable energy sources or utilities. “We still need to walk the walk in understanding that energy efficiency is a crucial element in the way in which companies must work”, she pointed out, “the partnership between RES and energy efficiency can provide 94% of the reductions in energy CO2 related emissions”.

Business representatives from the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) attended the EE Global Forum and Clean Energy Ministerial in Copenhagen, where hundreds of energy leaders from nearly 50 countries joined together for actionable dialogue on energy efficiency and partnership-building.

Read the whole report on EU-ASE’s actions in Copenhagen here.