The interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) on the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive began on Tuesday 6 June.
Representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission met in an initial trilogue meeting in the morning, which was described as “very constructive” by a source close to the dossier.
The deadlines for implementing minimum energy performance standards, energy performance certificates (articles 9 and 16) and the technical points in articles 20 to 23 relating to the inspection of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems were at the heart of the discussions between the various institutions.
As is customary at an initial interinstitutional meeting, the EU Council and Parliament both presented their mandates on this proposal (see EUROPE 12854/13), which aims to combat energy poverty, progressively reduce the use of fossil fuels and promote the renovation of buildings.
In the European Parliament, the final report by Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Irish) had been adopted at the plenary session on 14 March (see EUROPE 13141/10). The report proposed ambitious measures to accelerate the energy transition in the building sector. It suggests setting a shorter deadline of 2028 for all new buildings to be zero-emission, and applying this obligation from 2026 for buildings occupied, operated or owned by public authorities. Under the REPowerEU plan, all new buildings should be equipped with solar technologies by 2028, wherever possible. In addition, residential buildings undergoing major renovation would have until 2032 to comply with this requirement.
The report also proposes improving the energy performance classes for residential and non-residential buildings, setting more ambitious targets than those proposed by the Commission.
For its part, the EU Council had adopted a political agreement (‘general approach’) at a meeting of energy ministers in October 2022 (see EUROPE 13050/3). It has been requested that all new buildings, from 2030 onwards, should be zero-emission buildings, with exceptions for certain specific ones. Existing buildings would also have to meet minimum energy performance standards, with different rules for residential and non-residential buildings.
Following the discussions, the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson spoke at the European EnerGreenDeal Conference in Brussels. The Commissioner stressed the importance of setting “ambitious targets”, taking into account financial and technical constraints, and allocating resources as a priority “to the most energy vulnerable households”.
A general mandate has been granted to continue discussions at a technical level. The date of the next trilogue has not yet been announced, but it is expected to take place under the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)