With the European Commission due to unveil its ‘Renovation Wave’ initiative in September, the deputy director-general of the institution’s energy department (‘DG ENER’), Inge Bernaerts, expressed serious reservations about the idea of establishing a European funding mechanism specifically dedicated to building renovation during an online seminar on Thursday 25 June.
The possibility had been raised in an internal Commission note leaked by the press (see EUROPE 12489/6).
This document, which contains ideas for the post-Covid-19 European recovery plan, proposed the creation of a ‘European Renovation Financing Facility’ with an annual budget of 91 billion euros, in order to mobilise 350 billion euros of investment per year for the renovation of buildings.
Asked about the possibility of such a mechanism being developed in the framework of the ‘Renovation Wave’ initiative (see EUROPE 12484/16), Mrs Bernaerts first said that she was not sure whether this idea was still being examined by the Commission.
She then considered that a financing instrument dedicated to renovation might not be the best solution, as it could lead to “absorption” problems, i.e. the Member States may have difficulty spending the funds thus mobilised “when they are available”.
In addition, she fears that the funds thus mobilised may act as “an implicit cap to funding”, while some Member States may want to spend more than these ceilings.
In her view, the Commission’s decision to use existing instruments and to strengthen their strategic approach in the framework of the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery plan to stimulate renovation, among other things (see EUROPE 12496/12), should lead to better results. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)