Brussels, 20/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - In the opinion of Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, an agreement on the Energy Efficiency Directive is still possible before the end of the Danish Presidency on 30 June. Negotiations in trialogue format between the Council, European Parliament and Commission are likely to be long and arduous, however. Under pressure from member states with misgivings about the costs of ambitious measures to improve energy savings, the compromise put forward by the Danish Presidency is a considerable way away from the proposal of the parliamentary committee on energy, in its adoption, at the end of February, of the Turmes report (see EUROPE 10563) amending the initial text of the Commission (see EUROPE 10403).
Oettinger told the press on the sidelines of the work of the informal meeting of the European energy ministers in Horsens (Denmark) on 19-20 April that he was confident that an agreement with the Parliament on a directive to help the EU to achieve the target of 20% of energy savings by 2020 is possible in June. “I think that realistically, a solution is possible under the Danish Presidency. The real message is that nobody was blocking it”, he said, referring to the discussions of the ministers, adding: “I hope that we will be able to reach an ambitious solution in June, which will allow us to achieve this 20% target.”
Reiterating that an agreement on this dossier was the priority of his Presidency, the Danish energy minister, Martin Lidegaard, called on the capitals to show flexibility so as not to scupper the ambitions of a directive which has strong potential in terms of growth and job creation. At ambassador level in early April, the EU27 approved a proposed compromise by the Danish Presidency which undermines the ambitions of the directive and jeopardises the 20% target, by simplifying the provisions of the text on its most important planks and offering greater power and flexibility for decisions at national level, compared to the text initially proposed by the European executive. (EH/transl.fl)