Seán Kelly MEP (EPP, Ireland) presented his draft own-initiative report on the revision of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2018/844) on Thursday 2 September at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
In particular, the draft report calls for the strengthening of the provisions of the EPBD with regard to national long-term renovation strategies(LTRS).
While each Member State is obliged to draw up such a strategy, there is no legal obligation for the same Member States to implement them. “The (European) Commission can therefore only evaluate them [these strategies], but not monitor their effectiveness”, regrets Mr Kelly.
The MEP noted that buildings are responsible for 36% of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of energy consumption in the EU.
He therefore invites the Commission to consider how to develop a standard template that Member States could use to ensure that they meet all the requirements of the EPBD regarding LTRS, while regretting the delay in submitting the strategies to the Commission.
Only thirteen Member States had actually submitted their national long-term renovation strategies by the 15 November 2020 deadline. The Commission has already published a preliminary analysis of these thirteen strategies on Wednesday 31 March (see EUROPE 12691/8).
According to the institution’s website, Poland has still not submitted its own.
The draft report also encourages more Member States to introduce minimum energy performance standards, while stressing the importance of clear and accurate information on energy performance certificates for buildings.
According to the European Commission’s provisional agenda, the proposal for the revision of the EPBD is scheduled to be presented on 14 December.
The deadline for tabling amendments to Mr Kelly’s draft report is 14 September.
See the draft report by Seán Kelly: https://bit.ly/3jCQzqc (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)