The Coalition for Energy Savings urges MEPs to set a binding 40% energy efficiency target

(eceee news, 21 Nov 2017) An alternative set of compromise amendments put forward by the EPP (European People's Party) and ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) Rapporteurs would allow stopping successful national schemes, on Article 7 of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

The proposed amendments could render the Energy Efficiency Directive null and void and jeopardise European industry and citizens’ energy bills. MEPs are set to choose between ‘stop’ or ‘continue, writes the Coalition for Energy, urging MEPs to set a binding 40% energy efficiency target, to secure the single largest contribution to the overall target of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

On 28 November, MEPs from the ITRE committee (The European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy) will vote on the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive. MEPs will have to position themselves on the 2030 energy efficiency target and on the annual end-use savings obligation, Article 7, which secures the single largest contribution to the overall target, claims the Coalition.

According to the Coalition, consequences would be: In the year 2030, at least 81 Mtoe savings would be lost. This means that in 2030, compared to Commission proposals, and using information from the impact assessment: gas imports increase by 15%, GDP is lowered by €157bn, 690,000 jobs are lost, residential GHG emissions grow by 12.4%, households see their energy bills increased by €830.

“Stopping precisely those policies which deliver benefits to Europe’s business and consumers and create much needed local jobs is not an option for the future of the EU”, said Stefan Scheuer, Secretary General of the Coalition for Energy Savings. “MEPs will however have a choice to make between ensuring continuity and diving into uncertainty. Going the way of the alternative set of Compromise Amendments will not give investors and industry the confidence they need, and will harm European competitiveness at large.”

More information and suggestions on how to strengthen Article 7 can be found in the Coalition’s position paper on the Clean Energy for All Europeans Package.