The Member States discussed a first draft of the conclusions of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the ‘Renovation Wave’ strategy on Monday 22 February at a meeting of the Council’s Energy Working Group.
Presented by the European Commission on 14 October, the ‘Renovation Wave’ strategy aims to at least double the average annual rate of energy-efficient renovation of residential and non-residential buildings by 2030 (from 1% to at least 2% in 2026-2029). The Commission thus intends to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but also to fight against fuel poverty, while creating jobs (see EUROPE 12581/10, 12579/11).
Through its draft conclusions, the Presidency proposes that the Member States subscribe to this objective and to the “holistic view” adopted in the strategy, which “takes into account climate neutrality, economic recovery, social inclusion, resource efficiency and circularity, as well as health, environmental standards, climate adaptation and digitalisation”.
It calls on the Commission to advise and support Member States in planning and implementing renovation measures as part of their national recovery and resilience plans.
The document foresees in particular to ask the institution to develop “a monitoring system” to measure the evolution of renovation activities at European level and the energy performance of the European building stock on the basis of progress indicators established at national level and defined in the long-term renovation strategies of the Member States.
Other instruments requested by the Presidency are means to assess and monitor the economic impact of the improvements achieved through renovation as well as the criteria for green public procurement at European level.
Social dimension
As expected (see EUROPE 12637/21), the Portuguese draft conclusions also include a section on the social dimension of renovation.
It thus emphasises “the unique role that renovations can play in alleviating energy poverty in the long term and ensuring a fair and just transition for the poorest building occupants”.
Advocating for “specific renovation support for the worst performing buildings”, the text furthermore underlines “the need for a comprehensive supporting framework for low-income households, especially those living in buildings with complex ownership structures in order to trigger renovations”.
These sections could be problematic for some Member States such as Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, which tend to see energy poverty as a social policy issue rather than an energy policy issue. It is therefore possible that future versions of this draft conclusion will be significantly different in this respect.
See the draft conclusions: http://bit.ly/3bsyxBU (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)