On 23 September 2013, a large contingent of European companies gathered for the Fourth Annual High-level Dinner Debate, organized by the European Alliance to Save Energy. Over the next period, the European Commission and EU Member States have two very important tasks ahead:

• To propose a post-2020 energy-and-climate strategy and to
• To plan the use of resources the EU will make available through its multi-annual regional and cohesion policy

In this context, the progressive business community has an important role to play to ensure policy makers fully understand the potential of energy efficiency and embrace a long term vision for an energy efficient economy.The dinner debate was an opportunity to gather senior business representatives with high-level European decision-makers to:

• Share views about the need to have a European binding energy savings target for 2030
• Highlight where improvements in planning and expenditure of EU resources are required for the period 2014-2020

Together with some of the participants to the dinner and other business leaders, EU-ASE reiterated the call for an EU binding energy savings target for 2030 in a letter addressed to the Competitiveness Council, the European Parliament and European Commission. The text, issued on 11 October, is also available on this page.

Since 2010 the European Alliance to Save Energy has been working to ensure that the positive voices of the energy efficiency industry are heard loud and clear in the EU’s energy policy debate. Our members, some of Europe’s leading energy efficiency solution providers and international organisations, believe strongly that greater energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective solutions to ensure sustainable growth, create jobs, deliver the EU’s decarbonisation objective while at the same time ensuring security of energy supply and competitiveness.

However, we still have a long way to go to create a European energy efficiency market where businesses can invest, innovate, grow and create local link“shop” and lasting jobs.

The second annual EU-ASE high-level dinner therefore turned its focus to discussing how the EU can help Europe’s energy efficiency industry deliver on its full potential. At the dinner, which was attended by Antonio Tajani, EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, over 30 business leaders presented their views to on why Europe’s energy efficiency industry a central role in the Commission’s forthcoming revision of EU Industrial Policy.

In response to these views, Commissioner Tajani said:

“Energy efficiency presents an agenda of opportunity for Europe. It is one of the only sectors today that can provide concrete solutions for the economic recovery and job creation by increasing the innovation and competitiveness of European industries. Energy efficiency can also help to reduce gas and oil dependence, and reduce the expensive energy bills for both businesses and EU citizens. Industrial and environmental policies must go hand in hand and drive the Third Industrial Revolution.”