Consultation launched on EU energy efficiency directives

Submitted by Lee Gibson on 05 August 2020

One of the aims of the European Green Deal is to increase the European Union's (EU) climate ambition so that greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by at least 50% and towards 55% in a responsible way by 2030.

As the first steps in this process a series of climate, energy and environmental legislation has been identified that needs to be reviewed and, if necessary, revised in order to achieve this ambitious target, including the Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU and 2018/2002/EU).

The European Commission has published roadmaps for the review of both directives to inform stakeholders and citizens of what the goals of this initiative are and which policy options are being considered, and opened a seven-week period (3 August-21 September) for public feedback. This will feed in to the Commission’s further preparatory work for these reviews.

For renewables, the roadmap is in the form of an inception impact assessment. It will assess whether the EU renewable energy target should be raised and whether other parts of the directive would need to be modified, in line with the ongoing assessment underpinning the Climate Target Plan for 2030 and other initiatives already adopted.

For energy efficiency, a combined evaluation roadmap and inception impact assessment is foreseen. The evaluation will review the adequacy of the directive in view of the existing energy efficiency targets, policies and measures set out in the national energy and climate plans, and taking into account the higher climate target and recent Commission initiatives such as the Energy System Integration Strategy.

The findings of the evaluation will provide insights into the remaining economic, environmental, behavioural and organisational barriers, which will help identify additional solutions for improving the energy efficiency framework.

The roadmaps should complement the comprehensive impact assessment that is being carried out on the Climate Target Plan for 2030 and the work that is being carried on around the emissions trading system directive; the effort sharing regulation, the land use, land use change and forestry regulation and the CO2 emissions performance standards for cars and vans.

It is foreseen that the results of the review and possible proposals will be presented in June 2021.

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