Commission's 2020 energy plan fails to impress

The Commission's plan got a mixed response from policymakers and industry alike. While the focus on energy efficiency was hailed by many, some pointed out that it lacked credibility without concrete measures.

Energy efficiency and savings must be a central plank of EU energy policy if the EU is to achieve its energy security and climate goals. Yet the Commission only vaguely deals with this core issue and would seem to prefer delaying win-win measures that could be implemented now," said Green MEP Claude Turmes (Luxembourg).

The Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament pointed out the failure to address binding targets for energy savings. "EU member states are not on track to meet the 20% savings target that is crucial for reaching our goals of economic recovery and environmental sustainability," said Swedish MEP Marita Ulvskog (S&D).

"There is no real commitment on the core issues of reducing energy use, increasing the supply of renewable energy and upgrading energy grids. Instead of addressing the needs of energy consumers, such as rising energy prices, the Commission mainly prioritises the interests of energy companies," said Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

He labelled the strategy a "charter for traditional energy use".

Green MEPs also criticised the strategy for bowing to the interest of large integrated energy companies. "The Commission seems to fawningly accept the market dominance of the big (German) energy oligopolies, with no measures planned to address this damaging distortion. It fails to deal with the elephant in the room: namely how to wean Europe of its damaging addiction to fossil fuels," said Turmes.

European business, however, cautioned that energy-saving measures should remain voluntary. Small businesses "must be incentivised to take them up rather than burdened with additional administrative requirements," said Eurochambres, which represents EU chambers of commerce.

The European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) criticised the Commission for "low-carbon rhetoric" rather than establishing a stable framework for renewable energy leading up to 2030.

"A well-functioning, undistorted, internal energy market would give us the level playing field we have always argued for," said Arthouros Zervos, EREC president.

He argued that the successful development of renewable energy in the current energy system relies on the ability of EU member states to design stable, adequate support mechanisms to compensate for market distortions in order to reach their binding 2020 targets.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) welcomed the Commission's acknowledgement that projects intended to connect the European energy consumers with suppliers outside the EU should get the same level of attention as intra-EU projects. It said this reflects the need for significantly increased energy imports, particularly natural gas, in the coming decade.

TAP, however, expressed its surprise that the communication does not include TAP among the projects accorded specific emphasis in the Southern Gas Corridor, given that it serves to meet several of the EU's energy policy goals.

"Among these projects, TAP remains very cost effective with the shortest routing. It provides considerable strategic benefits that will help improve security of supply, including that it has an underground storage option in Albania and a significant physical reverse flow that can all be initiated in an emergency," TAP Managing Director Kjetil Tungland stated. 

The European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) pointed out that raising sufficient finance remains "a huge barrier to the uptake of energy efficiency measures". "In this context, FIEC welcomes the fact that the 'split incentive' problem between owners and tenants will be addressed in upcoming proposals from the Commission," it said.

Green group WWF pointed out that the lack of a specific timeline and content of upcoming proposals leaves "significant vagueness" ahead of the February EU summit on energy.

"The Commission knows Europe is on track to miss its 20% energy savings target by half – equivalent to the energy of seven Nabucco pipelines or the final energy consumption of Germany," said Jason Anderson, head of climate and energy policy at WWF. "WWF urges a binding energy saving target, the obvious solution that is completely and continuously ignored."

The International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE-Europe) regretted that the most direct new energy efficiency proposal in the strategy was the introduction of White Certificates to force supply companies to promote energy savings to their costumers.

"Instead of White Certificates, which have a mixed track record in EU countries, the EU needs a bucket of new policies to reach the energy efficiency targets," the NGO network said. It called for more specific proposals for using EU funding like structural funds, energy efficiency levies on energy consumption, and transport measures beyond urban mobility and car labelling.