Saint-Cloud, 05/07/2008 (Agence Europe) -Meeting for their informal Council in Saint-Cloud on 4 and 5 July, the Energy Ministers of the EU unanimously agreed on the need to make energy efficiency the central priority of the Community strategy on reducing CO2 emissions. "Energy efficiency is the keystone of the European energy system. This is an absolute point of agreement between all of the countries", the French Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, told the press at the end of the discussions of which he was the Chair, and which were attended, after a joint lunch with the Environment Ministers (EUROPE 9696-9697), by the European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, the Director of the International Energy Agency, Nabuo Tanaka, the President of the committee on energy of the European Parliament, Angelika Niebler (EPP-ED, Germany), and representatives of civil society. "This is the first time that this has been discussed so intensively ", said the Swedish Minister, Maud Olofsson. At the Energy Council, the Twenty-Seven were unanimous: the energy performance of buildings (via green technology using less energy in particular) and the energy performance of products (electronic equipment, boilers, water heaters, computers, photocopiers, televisions, engines, ventilators, air-conditioning, washing machines, etc) must be improved, and a particular effort should be made to improve energy efficiency in public or private lighting, by using low-energy bulbs. However, the only debate now is on whether or not there should be a general directive introducing binding objectives for energy efficiency, or sector-by-sector measures.
Stressing the importance of acting quickly against the backdrop of a continuous hike in oil prices, Mr Piebalgs presented the Council with a raft of directives on energy savings and a Community action plan on energy efficiency, proposed in October 2006 (EUROPE 9290), on which the Commission is currently making its decision: the eco-design directive, to be adopted before the end of the year, will be the subject of a proposal on the standby mode of electrical appliances on 7 July; - the directive to bring in labelling on the energy efficiency of products; - the revision of the 2002 directive on the energy performance of buildings. The Commissioner for Energy has also promised that there will be a revision, by request of the European Council, of the action plan on energy efficiency.
As well as product eco-design, the ministers focused their talks on the energy performance of buildings. However, as the finishing touch to the debate, the ministers discussed the possibility of making binding the objective for improving energy efficiency, laid down by the European Council at 20% of total EU energy commission by 2020 compared to figures from the year 2000, as proposed by the Commission in its action plan. The spokesperson to Mr Piebalgs, Ferran Tarradellas, stated that the Commission would be "in favour" of the option of a legally binding regulation. However, the misgivings of certain Member States make this scenario, which calls for an agreement by qualified majority of the Council, highly unlikely. Therefore, certain delegations have raised the possibility of laying down binding objectives on specific measures taken in the framework of a general directive on energy efficiency. Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom additionally proposed introducing flexibility in reaching the objective of 20% energy efficiency, suggesting that several countries may join forces and achieve their objectives together. This proposal went down well with most of the countries, particularly Spain, France and Luxembourg, and the Commission is prepared to look into it further.
Lastly, it is worth noting that as a result of a proposal from Sweden, Mr Borloo raised the possibility of holding a meeting for the Energy and Environment Ministers together with those responsible for Competition, and for a further informal Energy/Environment meeting, both to be held in September. (L.B.S/E.H./trans.fl)