European Parliament puts energy efficiency at top of the agenda

The resolution A new Energy Strategy for Europe 2011-2020 adopted by the European Parliament states energy efficiency should be a key part of the EU energy strategy 2011-2020.

Exploit better the EU's energy efficiency and renewable energy potential

[The European Parliament]
37. Takes the view that energy efficiency and energy savings should be key priorities of any future strategy, as they represent a cost-effective way of reducing EU energy dependency and combating climate change, contributing to job creation and economic competitiveness and counteracting the increase in energy tariffs and bills, thus reducing energy poverty; calls on the Commission and the Member States to put energy efficiency at the top of the EU agenda, and calls for the implementation of existing legislation to be stepped up and for the timely adoption by the Commission of an ambitious Energy Efficiency Action Plan; therefore believes that it should be implemented in a way that takes into account the efforts already made in some Member States;

40. Believes that energy efficiency and energy savings should also focus on the whole energy supply and demand chain, including transformation, transmission, distribution and supply, alongside industrial, household and transport consumption;

41. Supports the development of a properly functioning market for energy services and the introduction of further market mechanisms to improve the energy efficiency as a way of stimulating the competitiveness of the EU economy;

42. Believes, further, that more focus should be placed on the energy performance of energy-consuming products; encourages the Commission to implement the eco-design directive to the full, e.g. by including more products and applying a dynamic standard-setting model to ensure that ambitious targets are set and regularly updated;

43. Calls on the Commission to present an evaluation of the implementation of the existing legislation; considers that, if the evaluation reveals unsatisfactory implementation of the overall energy efficiency strategy and the EU is therefore projected not to reach its 2020 energy efficiency target, the EEAP should include a commitment by the Commission to propose further EU measures for Member States, such as individual energy efficiency targets which correspond to at least 20% energy savings at EU level in line with the EU2020 headline targets and which take into account relative starting positions and national circumstances, and the approval in advance of each Member State's national energy efficiency action plan; considers that such additional measures should be shown to be necessary, fair and measurable and to have an effective and direct impact on the implementation of national energy efficiency plans; calls on the Commission and the Member States to agree on a common methodology for measuring national energy efficiency targets and monitoring progress towards achieving those targets.