Opinion of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the Energy Efficiency Directive

Read the opinion drafted by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the Energy Efficiency Directive.

Illustration : Photo by Sangga Rima Roman Selia on Unsplash

The Committee of the Regions:

  • points to the great importance of respecting the powers of different levels of governance and the subsidiarity principle when applying energy efficiency measures;
  • welcomes the proposal for a directive under review and the Commission’s proposed energy efficiency measures which are aimed at achieving a 20% cut in primary energy consumption by 2020;
  • considers that the proposal for a directive on energy efficiency contains a number of shortcomings, e.g.:
  • the limited range of areas in which the measures will apply;
  • the minor role assigned to regional and local actors;
  • the absence of measures to raise public awareness beyond those taken to promote real-time consumer information on energy consumption;
  • rejects the proposal that the public sector should be required to renovate 3% of its buildings annually and purchase high-energy-performance products, services and buildings