Brussels, 22/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - Four MEPs from different countries and political groups presented on the sidelines of the European Parliament session, last week in Strasbourg, an initiative in favour of a Europe of "intelligent energy". Anders Wijkman, rapporteur on energy efficiency (EPP/ED, Swedish), Claude Turmes (Greens/ALE, Luxembourg), Eryl McNally (Labour, British) and Lousewies van der Laan (Liberal , Dutch), call on the EU to promote energy efficient technologies, thus conciliating the aim of Lisbon to make the EU the most competitive economy within ten years, and that of "sustainable development" (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.11, concerning the Wijkman report adopted in plenary).
The MEPs placed emphasis on the commercial potential of more energy efficient technologies, by underlining, for example that most presently energy efficient refrigerators consume less than 36% of the energy consumed by the average European models of the same size, and that the Volkswagen President raised the possibility of producing a car that consumes less than one litre per 100 kilometres, but that to make this car attractive, the political, commercial and behavioural framework must be changed. According to the authors of the call, energy consumption could be reduced by 15% in industry, 35% in the building and services sectors and by 50% in transport. In 20 years, fossil energy imports could be reduced by USD 690 million, at the rate of USD 25 per barrel, they assure.
To do this, the MEPs call on the EU to integrate energy efficiency into the priority aims of the Lisbon strategy, and that it carry out an assessment, in 2002, of the package of measures that the Commission is invited to present during the Belgian Presidency of the Council. This package should include the following legislative measures: 1) the modification of the Directives on the liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets, in order to introduce elements as incentives for a reduction in demand. Competition incites companies to sell more energy rather than concentrate on less costly alternatives, note the MEPs; 2) a Directive on co-generation, which, according to the example of the Directive on renewable energies, assures the promotion of combined heat and energy production; 3) a Directive on public procurement, which favours the sharing of technologies that consume less energy. The products with a strong potential for energy efficiency are ready for the market, but need more volume to become economically attractive and the public procurement markets could allow to achieve this volume; 4) a Directive on buildings and an initiative aiming to provide examples in Community institution buildings; 5) a Framework Directive on the energy efficiency of electrical equipment (refrigerators, lamps, air conditioning, etc.), including both voluntary measures and binding standards; 6) a Framework Directive on energy efficiency in the transport sector that will set binding standards for the consumption of private cars, heavy good vehicles, locomotives and ships.
In terms of research and teaching, the parliamentarians call for, among others, the maintaining of the Save research and development programme, with a budget "at least equivalent" to that of the previous years, and the development of training programmes on energy efficiency aimed at professionals, such as engineers and architects.
On the institutional level, the MEPs called for: 1) the establishment of a multiannual programme for supporting and co-ordinating the activities of the local and regional authorities on energy; 2) the establishment of a European energy agency responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the Member States and the EU in this field, under the responsibility of a single Commissioner; 3) the promotion of more efficient technologies in terms of consumption with emerging countries (South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Nigeria, India, Indonesia), whose energy consumption for cars, refrigerators, televisions, etc will increase in the coming years.