Despite the slow progress in negotiations between the European Parliament and the 27 member states of the EU, lawmakers hope to approve a new rule to increase energy efficiency next year.

To further energy savings goals, such as lowering final energy consumption by 2030, the European Commission suggested a reform of the energy efficiency directive in 2021. The need to conserve energy has only grown due to the energy crisis, and the European Commission amended the recommended target for overall energy savings under the rule in May 2022.

As the chief negotiator for the European Parliament, Italian centrist Nicola Danti remarked, “The Energy Efficiency Directive is a vital tool to meet our climate and energy security goals, much more so in the current scenario.” If we want to ensure that economic growth coincides with the Green Deal, improving the performance of public bodies’ buildings, production processes, district heating and cooling, and data centres are pivotal.”

Slow development

The Czech EU Council president has been criticised for moving too slowly and not being willing to compromise, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, but progress has been modest.

They continued that the Czech EU president “seemed willing” to soften the overall strategy established by their French predecessors in June of this year, including the crucial energy savings mandate. In addition, the Czech Presidency had a tonne of climate legislation to pass, making it likely that some issues would be pushed back to next year.

Pernille Weiss, a Danish centre-right MEP involved in the discussions, admitted that she was growing impatient. “Energy efficiency is just too vital to be a victim of both sides of the table making modest progress. It’s not that difficult to explain the lack of speed with the knobs, she told EURACTIV.

“The Swedish presidency will take this as a priority matter and work with the European Parliament to complete the task. She continued that we should work more quickly and effectively for citizens’ wallets, the need for energy independence from Russia, and the environment.

Progress so far

A parliamentary source who spoke with EURACTIV claims that the negotiations are almost halfway complete. They noted that although they had reached a consensus on a “significant number of articles,” the fundamental political concerns were now at stake.

Despite the reasonably limited agenda of the most recent trialogue on December 14, negotiators were able to reach an agreement on heating and cooling plans that local governments must create. The agreed wording specifies that “Member States shall guarantee that regional and local authorities draught local heating and cooling plans at least in towns having a total population greater than 45,000.”

The objective is to match these plans with the EU’s ambition to become climate neutral.

The thresholds mandating applying the energy “efficiency first” principle have also been determined by negotiators. The agreed-upon language states that it would apply to any energy project costing more than £100 million and to transportation projects costing more than £175 million. Along with this, negotiators have also secured agreements in other areas, such as information and awareness-raising, as well as fundamental contractual rights for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water.

There is still plenty to do

The most delicate issues, such as the objective for overall energy reductions, have yet to be resolved. The European Commission suggested increasing the EU’s energy efficiency objective in May from the 9% level it first outlined in July 2021 to 13% by2030. The decision to start a savage war in Ukraine Moscow, according to the EU executive, made it necessary to take this action to speed up the withdrawal from Russian fossil resources.

While this is happening, the European Parliament seeks a much more aggressive aim of 14.5%.

The 27 EU member states’ representative body, the Council of the European Union, stuck with the Commission’s 9% estimate, putting the Council and Parliament on a collision course. The yearly energy savings objective for EU nations, which would ensure that the use of oil, gas, and electricity is reduced, is another goal yet to be set.

The Commission’s suggested 1.5% aim is less than what the European Parliament wants: 2%. EU nations prefer a tiered strategy with far lower goals. The EU Presidency of Sweden, which will take over from Czechia for the following six months, will lead negotiations with Parliament on behalf of the 27 EU nations when they began again in 2019.

According to Niels Fugslang, the senior parliamentary negotiator, the Council must be more ambitious with its energy efficiency targets if it wants to reach a settlement that the European Parliament can approve. He told EURACTIV, “We are prepared to enter the conversations with the incoming Swedish presidency.”