Brussels, 10/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted the report by Nikolaos Vakalis (EPP-ED, Greece) on first reading, thereby approving the draft regulation implementing the new Energy Star agreement concluded between the EU and the United States in December 2006 (see EUROPE 9333). This agreement deals with coordination of programmes for labelling the energy efficiency of office equipment. While allowing the voluntary EU-US programme, launched in 2001, to continue, the new agreement considerably beefs up its technical requirements: the Energy Star label, therefore, can only be awarded to the best models. In addition, energy consumption is now to be measured both on stand-by mode and when the appliance is switched on. The EP amendments seek to better promote Energy Star-labelled office equipment with both manufacturers and consumers. The EP wants to encourage the public sector to set an example and to stimulate demand in this sector by investing massively in more energy saving equipment. It suggests introducing binding measures on public contracts for the supply of energy efficient office equipment in the public sector, as in the United States. (eh)