On Wednesday 14 April, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent the Member States a new proposal of conclusions on the Renovation Wave Strategy presented by the European Commission last October.
In terms of new content compared to the previous version (see EUROPE 12682/7), the new text calls on the Commission to speed up its work on heating and cooling appliances by “rescaling energy labels as soon as possible”, by extending them to all electric heating appliances and “preparing the phasing out as soon as possible of the least efficient gas-, electricity- and fossil-fuel-operated heating and cooling appliances”.
It also asks the institution to examine “all options for phasing out fossil fuels in heating and cooling in the most cost-efficient way” and to draft guidelines on the implementation of the energy efficiency principle with a focus on retrofitting buildings.
Whilst highlighting the role that retrofitting can play in tackling energy poverty in the long term by ensuring that energy is affordable for all households, the new draft conclusions also point out that the definition of energy poverty and measures to address it, as well as the setting of priorities for retrofitting, “fall within the competence of the Member States”.
In addition, the text recognises the importance of developing efficient district heating and cooling networks and specifically mentions heat pumps and district heating as examples of renewable heating and cooling solutions.
The new draft conclusions will be discussed by the Member States’ energy experts on 20 April.
Read the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/32lARGA (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)