Brussels, 29/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Voting on the draft energy efficiency directive, which is to help the EU reduce its energy consumption by 20% by 2020 - a target which its is still far from reaching (9% in 2008) - the European Parliament energy committee presented a united front, despite pressure from lobby groups, in support of the level of ambition of its environmentalist rapporteur Claude Turmes (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) in calling on member states to make this climate target legally binding. The fruit of intense lobbying from stakeholders and the industry to environmentalist NGOs and consumer associations, 1,800 amendments were put down, finally condensed into the 18 compromise articles that make up the text.
The amended draft directive contains two key points. Firstly, it sets a binding target for the reduction in energy consumption, translated into an absolute: a reduction of 368 million tonnes of oil equivalent in EU energy consumption by 2020. It also sets in tablets of stone a new rule requiring major energy companies to invest a percentage of their annual turnover to achieve a 1.5% energy saving per year in all end-user sectors, rather than concentrating solely on generation. The text contains other flagship proposals, such as the renovation of 3% of public buildings per year, and the development of cogeneration (use of the heat produced during electricity generation). The view of the Conservative Right - EPP and ECR - was adopted: when purchasing or renting products, services, systems and buildings, public bodies will have to take account of cost effectiveness based on a whole-life analysis. This is a reference to “viability” which Turmes opposed as, in his view, it hinders innovation. The committee retained the controversial clause - Article 19 - calling on the European Commission to hold the greenhouse gas emissions quotas that it feels needed to maintain the system's incentives for ecological investment. For the remainder, EPP Group MEPs brought all their weight to bear for the introduction of flexibility for member states, in line with the national differences.
The fate of the text will now be decided in trialogue negotiations with the Commission and the Council, where member states are more in favour of legally binding measures than a compulsory objective, and are demanding great flexibility. Parliament, however, is counting on the Danish Presidency, which has made energy efficiency one of its priorities, to have the directive adopted before the end of its term of office. (EH/transl.rt)