Energy Efficiency Watch, an initiative driven by a group of MEPs, published an assessment of the first National Energy Efficiency Action Plans submitted by member states as part of their commitments under the 2006 Energy Services Directive.
But the national plans failed to convince the watchdog that EU governments' efforts to increase energy savings will compare with those they have to put into other sectors like renewable energy, for which there is a binding EU-wide target.
The 2006 Energy Services Directive set an aspirational target of 9% annual energy savings by 2016. But as the European Commission cannot legally enforce this, the parliamentary monitoring group expressed doubt that the target would be achieved.
"Most member states will probably focus on achieving their climate and renewables targets [under the EU's climate package] rather than committing themselves 100% to their ESD target," they argued.
Although all countries have adopted savings targets and sketched out measures to reach them, the report argued that there was often a mismatch with the final objective. Instead of calculating the target as a result of the cumulative impact of the policies, most member states simply calculated how much 9% of their current energy consumption was and gave the final sum as their target, the MEPs said.
Moreover, many of the proposed policies had already been planned or even implemented regardless of the Energy Services Directive, the report points out.
The EEW, however, argued that the efficiency action plans provide a good opportunity for mutual learning as they display a large array of policy packages and measures for different sectors.
Towards a standard format for energy-saving plans
To make the most of this potential, the watchdog urged the Commission to establish a standard format for the second set of action plans to be submitted in 2011. Harmonising the structure and level of information in the documents and a common methodology to evaluate energy savings would facilitate the planning process in member states and support responsible authorities in improving national policies, it argued.
The Commission made a similar shift to a harmonised format for the national renewable energy action plans, arguing that it would improve the quality of national reporting. The member states will now have to set out the measures to reach their individual targets under the new renewables directive using a common template (EurActiv 01/07/09).
