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Renovate Europe calls for a “Renovation Fund For All Europeans"

(8 May 2020) In order to make energy renovation of the EU building stock central within the upcoming Economic Recovery Plan, a joint call from Renovate Europe aims to ensure that energy renovation of the EU building stock plays a central role in getting Europe back on its feet.

The European Commission is plans to reveal the EU Economic Recovery Plan, along with a proposal for a revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework, on the 13th of May at the earliest. According to Renovate Europe, there is a real risk that COVID-19 could take the EU backwards to political fragmentation, economic stagnation and social breakdown.

According to the campaign, funding spent on deep energy renovation generates a multitude of ancillary societal benefits, including the creation of safe and healthy buildings. A renovation wave would create new global champions in clean technology and enable the EU to lead the world in the energy transition.

Solely the deep energy renovation of our buildings – at a 3% renovation rate per annum – will make it possible to reach the EU’s goal of climate-neutrality by 2050, according to the call. It urges the EU to create a Renovation Fund for All Europeans as part of the European Union’s Recovery Plan, with the following key elements:

• A fund leveraging €100bn per annum to ensure that the EU hits its renovation rate of 3% of buildings per year;
• Focused, in the first instance, on those in society who need renovation the most, from energy-poor, low-income neighbourhoods and social-housing to schools, hospitals, retirement homes and care centres;
• Open to all (from national investment banks, local authorities, social housing companies and legal consortia of economic actors) who have ready-to-start projects in place;
• Managed at a European level with fast-tracked project approval processes, innovative tendering and technical assistance to ensure the economy restarts now and to overcome distortion of competition/state aid concerns. We must ensure the right amount and the right quality of renovation projects are put forward;
• Focused on projects that deliver deep or staged-deep energy renovation, putting energy efficiency first, to ensure the money spent locks in our progress towards 2050 climate goals;
• Recognition of the role of the EU in funding the projects through visibility billboards underlining the support of the EU.

According to the call, EU also needs to introduce minimum energy performance progressively tightened standards for existing buildings that undergo energy renovation.

View the full campaign here

Official campaign website