The decision, if confirmed by a vote in Parliament later this year, would overturn a draft agreement on the proposal passed in March between EU member-state representatives and the European Commission (EurActiv 02/04/09).
The text would replace existing energy labels which are commonly found on household appliances including, fridges, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers.
The new labels would subdivide the highest 'A' class of the EU's well-known 'A-G' energy efficiency classes, and introduce the label to televisions for the first time.
But MEPs on the industry committee argued that the new format would "add to confusion about whether class 'A' represents an efficient or an inefficient product".
Instead of adding classes such as 'A-20%', denoting products which use 20% less energy than a traditional 'A class' product, the MEPs wanted to the closed A-G scale to be maintained.
Parliamentarians called on the Commission to submit new proposals by the end of September 2009 to upgrade existing energy classes so that the highest category would be reserved for the "top 10-20% best-performing equipment".
MEPs stressed that they were not against introducing an energy label for televisions, but merely opposed to the proposed format. "Televisions are high energy-consuming appliances and consequently there is considerable potential for saving energy by adding this category to the energy labelling scheme," they said.
Vote could represent the Parliament's first veto under 'comitology' rules
The proposals for a new label stemmed from implementing measures introduced by the 1992 Energy Labelling Directive, which gives the Commission a mandate to set energy classes for household appliances. The legislative procedure, however, gives the Parliament and the Council - representing the 27 EU member states - the option to block the proposed measures.
If the Parliament is to use its veto on the new labels, the resolutions endorsed by the industry committee yesterday will have to be backed by the full assembly at the plenary on 4-7 May. This would be the first time the Parliament has used its scrutiny to reject a proposal under new comitology rules.
According to Parliament sources, it is rare for blocking measures to pass the committee stage. There was an attempt in February to stop the Commission from phasing out incandescent light bulbs, but MEPs in the environment committee eventually endorsed the decision (EurActiv 18/02/09).
The energy label format was opposed by the Socialists, Liberals and Greens. The vote in the industry committee was very narrow, which is to be expected in the plenary in May as well, according to Parliament sources. The result is difficult to anticipate, as the June elections are drawing near and MEPs might feel less inclined to vote along party lines, the sources speculated.
At the same plenary session, the Parliament will also vote on a separate proposal to recast the Energy Labelling Directive to cover energy-related products such as insulation materials and window glazing, which do not consume energy but have a "significant direct or indirect impact" on energy savings.
