Brussels, 25/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission approved the principle of a directive on energy consumption in buildings, presented by Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. A number of details of the text are to be reviewed by a group of Commissioners.
This hybrid decision was taken after a difficult discussion between Commissioners. A strong minority made up of British Commissioners Neil Kinnock and Chris Patten and Frits Bolkestein of the Netherlands were opposed, in the name of subsidiarity, to the very principle of Community legislation in this field. Some proposed that the directive should be replaced by a Commission "recommendation", but this was refused by Commissioner de Palacio who felt that, if the EU wants to respect collective commitments in the context of the Kyoto Protocol, then it should take global measures to reduce its gas emissions and its energy consumption.
The Commissioners finally agreed to adopt the draft directive that will establish energy consumption certificates for buildings and a common method for the evaluation of consumption (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.9). Commissioners de Palacio, Byrne and Busquin, in particular, should nonetheless "clean up" the text to withdraw the clauses that are considered over prescriptive, such as that which stipulates how often controls should be carried out. In fact, the practical implementation of the legislative framework will continue to come under the individual responsibility of each Member State in conformity with the principle of subsidiarity, states the Commission in a press release.