Member states push to weaken energy law

The idea of counting energy-efficiency “early action” retrospectively towards national targets is to be discussed by energy ministers on Tuesday (14 February) when they continue talks on the European Commission’s proposal for an energy-efficiency directive.

National targets to deliver an EU goal of saving 20% of energy use by 2020 would not be binding under the proposal, but the Commission says the targets could be made binding if a review in 2014 finds that member states are making insufficient progress. Environmental campaigners and MEPs say member states are trying to insert provisions to make the targets easier to meet.

During its presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers in the second half of 2010, Poland added to the draft text the idea of counting previous efficiency action toward the 2020 targets, and it was strongly supported by many member states. At a working-party meeting in January, it was suggested that action from as long ago as 2000 could count toward the 2020 target.

“The EU is already on track to reduce energy use by 9% by 2020,” said Brook Riley, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth Europe. “So there is an 11-point gap to get to the 20% target. Logically, therefore, all new legislation has to be additional to existing policies. But early action is a way out of making additional savings. Early action ruined the 2006 Energy Services Directive.”

Denmark, the current holder of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, is leading talks at working-group level to determine how the EU’s 20% goal could be broken down into national targets, with different countries having different obligations.

Disappointed campaigners

Environmental campaigners were hoping that the Danish presidency would remove Poland’s reference to early action and other measures to lessen the burden on member states. But the Danish draft text retains the reference. It also retains the Polish idea that national targets could be mitigated by other factors such as their economic situation.

Environmental campaigners have expressed exasperation that the efforts to weaken the directive have continued despite the change of presidency. They are now pinning their hopes for revision on the Parliament’s energy committee, which votes on the issue on 28 February. “We would not consider the way the text is now to be acceptable as an outcome,” said Erica Hope of the Climate Action Network.

Energy infrastructure

Energy ministers will also discuss the Commission’s proposal to overhaul the funding programme for trans-European energy infrastructure (TEN-E) for the 2014-20 period. In a progress report, the Danish presidency will tell ministers that it wants to see a first-reading agreement reached with Parliament by the end of this year.

Most delegations are still studying the text, which was proposed by the Commission in October. But disagreement has already emerged over how ‘projects of common interest’ (PCIs) – eligible for EU co-financing – are selected.

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Some member states want to make the application process simpler and less bureaucratic, while others have requested a larger role for member states in the designation of PCIs.

The ministers will also discuss the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy – particularly the targets for 20% renewables and a 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020. The Danish presidency will ask ministers what they see as the main obstacles to these objectives.