The European Commission has issued a first, grim assessment of energy-savings plans submitted by member states last year, pointing to a lack of political commitment to reduce energy consumption at national level. But Brussels itself is being criticised for dropping the issue in favour of policies with a higher political profile.
Background
A directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services, adopted in late 2005, requires member states to draw up national action plans to achieve annual energy savings of 1% in the energy services sector (retail, supply and distribution of gas, urban heating and transport fuels).
The aim of the directive was to achieve an overall 9% reduction in energy consumption by 2016, with 30 June 2007 identified as the deadline for member states to submit their first national action plans to the Commission.
The targets, however, were made indicative only, meaning that they cannot be legally enforced upon EU countries.
A separate objective was agreed later on to slash the EU's overall energy consumption by 20% by 2020. The objective was the centrepiece of the Commission's energy efficiency action plan, endorsed in spring 2007 by EU leaders in Brussels. It was, however, also made non-binding on member states.
The Commission's downbeat review came as part of a package of proposals put forward last week to deliver on the EU's objective to slash emissions of greenhouse-gases (GHG) by 20% by 2020 (EurActiv 24/01/08).
According to the Commission, "the plans essentially represent a practical demonstration of the commitment of member states to energy efficiency".
But with 17 plans assessed so far, Brussels says there is a gap between words and political action taken to meet the EU objective of cutting energy consumption by a fifth by 2020. "Although the Action Plans provide some encouragement, there appears to be a gap between the political commitment to energy efficiency and the proposals aimed at facing up to these challenges".
In October last year, the Commission launched infringement proceedings against 12 member states for failing to deliver their action plans. France and Latvia face separate legal action over their failure to introduce legislation on buildings efficiency (EurActiv 18/10/07).
However, some are suggesting that the Commission itself has been placing too little attention on the 20% energy savings target because it is not legally enforceable. Indeed, the energy and climate package last week was dominated by targets on GHG emissions and renewable energies which member states agreed to make legally-binding objectives.
"The 20% energy efficiency target has somehow been dropped," commented one industry source with knowledge of the Commission's internal arrangements.
Positions
Environmental NGO Friends of the Earth Europe lamented the lack of political emphasis on energy efficiency in the Commission's climate and energy package last week, saying the issue was "totally lacking" from the proposals.
According to FoE, "energy efficiency remains a non-topic as discussions in the EU on climate protection move on."
Sonja Meister, FoE's climate and energy campaigner, told EurActiv: "The fact that only two member states delivered their national action plans in time and that many of them just presented business-as-usual approaches, are clear proofs of lack of political will in EU member states.” Meister added that this lack of commitment was "all the more astonishing" since reducing energy demand would also make it easier for member states to reach their renewable energy targets, which some criticised as being too ambitious.
According to Meister, there could be more commitment at EU level. "If the EU would really care about energy efficiency, they should make the 20% energy efficiency target a binding target," she said.
In a report adopted in October last year, the European Parliament was also highly critical of EU efforts on energy efficiency. "Both the Commission and member-state governments have been guilty of a serious dereliction of duty over the implementation of energy-efficiency legislation," the report said.
In a report published in September 2007, the International Energy Agency in Paris sounded a "wake up call", painting a gloomy picture of efforts made to control their energy consumption. According to the report, final energy use in the 26 IEA member countries increased by 14% between 1990 and 2004, feeding directly into the level of CO2 emissions, which also rose by 14% (EurActiv 11/11/07).
Next Steps
- 2016: Target date for member states to reduce their energy consumption by 9% (non-binding).
- 2020: Target date for EU to reduce energy consumption by 20% (non-binding).