J-C backs ‘enhanced efficiency’
From 18 July 2014 (we’re migrating the best of our blog from coolproducts.eu)
The new boss of the European Commission this week come out fighting for a strong energy efficiency target, with background documents backing up the rhetoric.
Juncker’s speech to the new European Parliament included well reported pro-climate security words of wisdom. “I want the European Union to lead the fight against global warming ahead of the United Nations Paris meeting in 2015 and beyond, in line with the objective of limiting any temperature increase to a maximum of 2ºC above preindustrial levels. We owe this to future generations,” he said. “A binding 30 per cent energy efficiency target for 2030 would be the minimum for me.”
Get Coolproducts campaign’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Less well reported were documents behind the rhetoric. The strategic agenda of the EU for the next five years that the 28 member states want Mr Juncker to implement mentions energy efficiency three times, remarkable for a 7-page document. In particular the following powerful quote:
‘Energy efficiency is essential, since the cheapest and cleanest energy is that which is not consumed’, and a call for ‘enhanced energy efficiency’.
The message is clear, and it means something simple: during the next five years, EU decision makers should accelerate all policies to save energy, instead of dragging their feet as they have sometimes done. The upcoming revision of the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives offers the perfect opportunity to deliver. These two directives should be reinforced and made more ambitious and effective. This is a key condition to achieve ‘enhanced energy efficiency’.
We have no doubt that this will be heard by Mr Juncker, who has in the past made ambiguous remarks about the EU Ecodesign legislation. He should now heed Energy Commissioner Oettinger’s arguments in favour of strong Ecodesign and energy labelling as so forcefully put in a recent letter to energy ministers. Some of the myths surrounding the directives should not distract us from harnessing their promise.
