The European Commission published its proposal for an Energy Efficiency Directive on 22 June 2011. The proposed EED is expected to repeal two existing Directives: the Cogeneration Directive (2004/8/EC) and the Energy Services Directive (2006/32/EC).

The Commission’s latest estimations, which take into account the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 that Member States have set in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy, suggest that the EU will achieve only half of the 20 % target in 2020.

New: Steering through the maze #5 on proposed Energy Efficiency Directive (18 July 2011). (pdf)

The draft Directive follows the publication of the Energy Efficiency Plan, March 2011 [see eceee policy page and the dedicated EEP page]

The main purpose of the new Directive is to “make a significant contribution to meeting the EU’s 2020 energy efficiency target”, according to the Commission.

The Directive does not propose to introduce binding national energy efficiency targets, but proposes, what the Commission calls "binding measures". Should Europe not be on track to meeting its 2020 savings target in 2013/14, the Commission will intends to back with a proposal for binding targets.

The main elements of the proposed Directive

• Each Member State will establish an energy efficiency obligation scheme. There will be a legal obligation to establish energy saving schemes in all MS. Energy companies companies will be obliged to save every year 1.5 % of their energy sales, by volume, through the implementation of energy efficiency measures such as improving the efficiency of the heating system, installing double glazed windows or insulating roofs, among final energy customers. However, Member States are given the option to introduce alternative measures than an efficiency obligation scheme to achieve savings among final customers. The savings must be equivalent to the target as set out in the obligation scheme.
• Public sector will be required to renovate 3% of their building stock by floor area annually to cost optimal levels. Buildings need to have a useful area larger than 250 sq. m. in order to be covered by this requirement.
• Billing of energy consumption should be based on the actual consumption well reflecting data from the metering. There should be easy and free-of-charge real-time and historical consumption based on smart metering.
• There should be incentives for SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) to undergo energy audits and disseminate best practices. Large companies will be required to make an audit of their energy consumption in order to identify the potential for reduced energy consumption.
• The directive calls for improving the efficiency in energy generation. This includes monitoring of efficiency levels of new energy generation capacities, establishment of national heat and cooling plans as a basis for a sound planning of efficient heating and cooling infrastructures, including recovery of waste heat.