Euro-MPs greenlight energy efficiency talks in historic vote

At their latest meeting on 28 February, the MEPs agreed on a series of amendments to the proposed Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) of 22 June 2011, as well as making the exceptional decision that interinstitutional negotiations with the Council of the European Union should begin straight away. All MEPs will get the chance to vote on the draft legislation at the next EP plenary session in March.

Discussions on the EED, the final Europe 2020 flagship initiative, have been long and complex with stakeholders across industry and politics, NGOs and academia all contributing to lively debates. The different parliamentary groups in the EP have been negotiating thousands of amendments to the draft resolution. In the end, 17 of the 18 compromise amendments were eventually adopted and the final draft was adopted by 51 votes to 6, with three abstentions.

The Commission has estimated that the EU will only achieve half of its current non-binding EU target of achieving 20% primary energy savings in 2020 if no measures are taken. Energy efficiency can help boost the EU's economy by reducing dependence on imported goods, creating jobs, freeing up financial resources, boosting competitiveness, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The ITRE committee voted for a series of binding measures to help implement the overall 20% target. They want Member States to make concrete plans for achieving energy savings of 80% in the buildings sector by 2050.

Luxembourgish MEP Claude Turmes from the Greens/European Free Alliance group has led the negotiations on the EED in his role as rapporteur on the draft legislation to the ITRE committee. He comments on the historic vote:
'This vote is the most progressive vote that the EP has ever taken on a piece of legislation on energy efficiency. It was really an important day as this is potentially a step change for energy policy in Europe. Now it will depend on the willingness of 27 EU governments to help us build the future of Europe.'

Under the draft plan, EU Member States would be required to set themselves binding national energy efficiency targets, and save energy by specific means such as renovating public buildings. The ITRE committee also gave its support for the setting aside of European Union Emissions Trading scheme (EU ETS) allowances; the related amendment would allow the European Commission to cut the supply of carbon permits from the 2013-to-2020 phase of the EU ETS.

Claude Turmes continues: '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.'

Ahead of the ITRE vote, energy efficiency experts from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the United Kingdom published a new report in which they called for new targets to reduce energy demand across the EU. In the report, published under the auspices of the Build with CaRe project, the researchers propose setting a new EU target of a 40% reduction in primary energy demand by 2050.

Build with CaRe, which is funded in part by the European Regional Development Fund, brings together local and regional authorities, universities and institutes from 10 regions in 5 countries in the North Sea Region and aims to mobilise all forces in order to make energy-efficient building design the mainstream trend.

Source: Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS)