As widely reported in the press this week, the European Parliamentary Committee responsible for energy matters voted 31 to 22 to start negotiations with the EU Council on the final legislation. It follows months of work on the draft directive, which has already been amended 1,800 times. Key to the proposed legislation is a binding target for the EU to reduce primary energy demand by 20 % by 2020. At the moment the 20 % target is only an objective and, according to estimates by the European Commission, the EU is currently on track to achieve only half of this, unless additional measures are imposed. Hopefully, the negotiations with the Council – representing the 27 member states – will start soon.
Without going into detail, consider some of the quotes from leading figures since the vote:
Claude Turmes, MEP, and rapporteur for the draft Directive:
“This vote is a major sign that Parliament, with a majority including most political parties, takes rising energy costs and energy poverty seriously. Energy efficiency offers possibilities for job creation – notably in the building sector. Now governments have a choice: protect citizens against energy poverty and create many job opportunities or allow big energy companies to make ever-increasing profits.”
“This directive is a key directive for the EU economy to restart,” Turmes said, referring to its power to create jobs and reduce dependency on expensive foreign imports of oil and gas.
“Everybody says ‘yes’, they’re in favour when you ask them about efficiency, but as soon as you go down to decide measures, a lot of actors and very powerful actors do not really want to see efficiency become real,” Turmes said.
Jan te Bos, Director General of Eurima, the European Insulation Manufacturers Association:
“Building renovation is a unique tool to re-launch the EU economy, boost growth and create durable local jobs, in particular, in small and medium size enterprises. Today’s vote allows Member States to take ownership of this potential and start tapping in with the right level of ambition, while preserving enough flexibility to design renovation programs at their own pace and taking their national circumstances into account.”
Dr Fiona Riddoch, Managing Director of COGEN Europe:
“We acknowledge the milestone achieved in ITRE today but do think that the report lacks sufficient ambition on energy efficiency in the transformation process. The sector is now looking to the final stage of the co-decision process to fulfill the expectations set out in the original EED proposal.”
Brook Riley, Friends of the Earth Europe:
“MEPs could have gone further but this is a good result. The Parliament knows the benefits of energy savings, such as savings in fuel bills and CO2 emission cuts, won’t happen without legally binding targets. MEPs now have the negotiating mandate to make a good deal with the European Council.”
Stefan Scheuer, Secretary General of the Coalition for Energy Savings:
“This is an unambiguous message from the Parliament. The Council must now follow this lead. Doing so would allow Europe to move to a new energy model based on energy savings and to use the €400billion a year currently spent on fossil fuel imports to invest in EU’s economic and financial recovery!”
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 