Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 16 June, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Belgium after its failure to fully transpose directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings. The Commission says that, to date, the Walloon Region has not adopted rules on issuing energy performance certificates for new buildings, nor has it made it compulsory to display these certificates visibly in buildings of more than 1,000 m2. Under EU legislation, such rules were to have been adopted by 4 January 2009 at the latest. The Commission also takes the view that the Brussels Capital Region's timetable for putting in place provisions such as the inspection of boilers over 15 years old is incompatible with the 4 January deadline set out in EU rules. Under current legislation in force in the Brussels region, these boilers will not have to be inspected before January 2013 (for the oldest boilers) or even January 2014 (for boilers less than 20 years old). Furthermore, the Region has yet to adopt any measures concerning the obligation to conduct regular inspections of every air-conditioning system whose power output exceeds 12 kW.
If no steps are taken to comply with EU law within two months, the Commission may decide to refer Belgium to the Court of Justice. (E.H./transl.rt)