On Tuesday 11 July in Strasbourg, the European Parliament approved by a large majority the provisional agreement reached with the Council on the revision of the ‘Energy Efficiency’ Directive (see EUROPE 13139/11), with 471 votes in favour, 147 against and 17 abstentions.
The revision of this directive raises the target for reducing energy consumption to 11.7% by 2030. “It’s a huge challenge, but it can be met if we insulate our homes, deploy more district heating and use the excess heat generated by factories and data centres, which consume a lot of electricity but also create a lot of heat, which is often wasted today”, explained Niels Fuglsang during a debate on Monday 10 July.
The text also sets an annual energy savings obligation of 0.8%, rising gradually to 1.9%, and a target of 3% of public buildings renovated each year to become virtually zero-emission buildings.
Following the vote, Mr Fuglsang welcomed “a solid victory for Europe and for the climate”.
The text should now be formally adopted by the European ministers on 25 July. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)