Commission to threaten binding energy-efficiency targets

Member states fail to meet energy-saving goals, prompting Commission to seek tighter control of industry.

European Union member states are being threatened with legally binding targets if they do not improve their record on saving energy.

Günther Oettinger, the European commissioner for energy, is to call for binding targets next year if national governments do not pick up the pace on a voluntary target to reduce energy use by 20% by 2020.

On current trends, the EU is on course to achieve just half that level of cuts, according to Commission analysis. If a policy review in 2012 shows a continued shortfall, “the Commission will propose legally-binding national targets for 2020”, states a draft of the energy-efficiency action plan, seen by European Voice.

The Commission is relying on improved energy efficiency to meet EU climate targets. Hitting the 20% energy-efficiency target would allow the EU to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 25% by 2020, according to a “roadmap” on how the EU can meet its climate goals.

The long-delayed energy-efficiency plan is likely to be published on 8 March, after countless redrafts since it was first discussed at the end of the first Barroso commission in 2009.

At a summit earlier this month, EU leaders pledged to do better on energy efficiency. The value of the pledges will be judged by the quality of national energy-efficiency action plans that governments are obliged to draw up by June 2011.

Tightening of controls

In its action plan, the Commission suggests tightening pollution control on factories, through revising the industrial emissions directive to require compliance with the best standards. Last year, a Commission proposal for a more robust version of this directive was weakened by member states, most of whom are not in full compliance with EU law.

Oettinger will also urge the public sector to set an example by refurbishing 2% of their buildings (by area). The Commission is to lead the pack by bringing the buildings that it owns up to the best possible standards by 2015.

But energy-efficiency advocates criticised the Commission for not proposing binding targets immediately. Barry Lynham of Knauf Insulation, a member of the European Alliance to Save Energy, said it was “unacceptable that the energy-efficiency target is not mandatory” and it sent “a strange signal to the member states”. Lynham said that his industry was left on an “uneven playing-field” because targets on renewables and greenhouse-gas emissions were written into EU law, while energy efficiency was not.

“The Commission has some good ideas, but because they don’t have the levers, they can do only so much to achieve that 2020 goal,” Lynham said.

Wary capitals

National governments are not keen on legally binding targets. The setting of new targets “is not justified at present”, state the draft conclusions of the next meeting of energy ministers (28 February). Drawn up by the Hungarian government, the conclusions call for “common, easy and practicable” methods for monitoring energy efficiency across member states. The target to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 is measured against a “business-as-usual” trajectory.