| New EU Directive on Energy Efficiency |
| 19 September 2012 |
 On September 11, 2012 the European Parliament adopted the new Directive on Energy Efficiency, approving the text that had been proposed last June.The aim of the new piece of EU legislation is to improve the efforts towards the achievement of 20% reduction in energy consumption by 2020, which at the moment seems still out of reach. Consequently the directive promotes a more efficient energy use at all stages of the energy chain – from the transformation and distribution to final consumption. Among the measures included there is the obligation for public institutions to buy energy-efficient buildings, products and services, and to refurbish every year 3% of their buildings above 250 m2, in order to reduce their energy consumption. In addition, each EU member state will be required to draw up a national roadmap to make the entire buildings sector more energy efficient by 2050 (commercial, public and private households included). Incentives will be given to end users to cut their energy consumption through efficiency improvements such as the replacement of old boilers or insulation of their homes. Moreover consumers will be better able to manage their energy consumption thanks to more accurate information provided on their meters and bills. The industrial sector will be affected by new rules as well, and large companies will be required to undertake energy audits every 3 years and to apply the necessary improvements in order to achieve energy efficiency. Now that the directive has been adopted, member states will have one year to implement the new regulations into national laws. A review of the progress towards the EU's 20% energy saving target in 2020 will be made in 2014. If the improvement is found insufficient, additional tools will be adopted, such as mandatory national energy efficiency targets. For more information please visit the European Commission official website |
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