Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-13-Speech-2-362"
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"en.20010313.21.2-362"2
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".
Mr President, first of all I should like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Wijkman, and all the Members who have spoken today for the contribution they have made to this debate.
We also intend to put forward a framework directive on electrical equipment in buildings. Up to now there have only been industry regulations or rules for particular types of electrical appliances – Mrs McNally has also brought up these matters – and what we intend to do is make a global regulation covering all electrical appliances that go into buildings of all kinds, whether domestic, industrial or commercial.
I also want to tell you that the proposals included in the White Paper on transport policy, which I hope to present soon, are entirely compatible with what we have been talking about here today and with what the Green Paper says. Therefore I hope to be able to count once again on your backing and support for all these initiatives.
The idea put forward by Mr Wijkman that the Commission and the Member States should turn major public buildings into symbolic demonstrations I think is highly appropriate, and this is something I have emphasised in the past. On the subject of the directive on the energy performance of buildings I hope to be able to make some progress in this direction.
I must also say that I fully agree with Mr Wijkman on the importance of the SAVE programme. In order to guarantee the future of that programme and to determine its guidelines and scope, we shall soon be beginning to draft a new decision on the execution of the programme from 2003 onwards, and Mr Wijkman’s opinions and those given in the report we are discussing will obviously be taken into consideration.
With regard to the European Energy Programme Agency, this issue is likely to be more complicated, as you well know, but in any case the important thing is not so much which body or administrative division will carry out these activities but rather that the activities should be carried out. On that we are in complete agreement.
I should like to conclude by stressing that the requests and observations made in the Wijkman report, together with all your contributions, will be taken into consideration – some of them very soon, like the buildings directive, for instance – and I think they are wholly consistent with the general energy policy that the Commission is putting forward. You already have concrete evidence of this: the directive on electricity from renewable energy sources, the communications – like this one – on energy saving, the Green Paper, and soon the directive on energy efficiency in the construction industry.
In today’s case, we are approving something that is not to do with energy saving but with the effectiveness of the whole system: the liberalisation of the gas and electricity sector. This is in no way at odds with the existence of additional measures encouraging us to save energy or use it better.
Human behaviour is essential. As some of you have said – Mr Chichester and Mr Beysen, amongst others – the key is education and making people aware of how we must be really careful in using energy, because even though we may be able to pay for it there are certain costs beyond the price of the energy itself that we must never lose sight of. We must not squander it.
As we all know, energy efficiency is a question that has figured prominently while we have been drawing up our energy policy. As Mrs Ayuso was just saying, we have to look at it in a consistent way. Energy efficiency is one of the elements in a consistent, rational energy policy. But I have to say that it is one of the elements that can help us meet the Kyoto targets, help make this a lasting development, and also help enhance the long-term security of supply.
As indicated in the Green Paper on the security of supply and the Kyoto commitments, issued by the Commission in December, energy efficiency and energy savings contribute to energy policy, since every kilowatt saved is the equivalent of needing to produce one kilowatt less.
I am aware of how difficult Mr Wijkman’s report was to prepare and the effort he had to put in to present such a clear and concise document as he has presented today. I want to tell Mr Wijkman and everybody else here that in general I fully agree with what his report contains.
The scope of the report and the constructive opinions it contains will help us push forward and consolidate the implementation of the energy efficiency action plan.
I know that for some of you it seems rather unambitious to set ourselves an objective of a 1% increase in energy efficiency to be sustained over the next ten years. You must, ladies and gentlemen, realise how much effort it will take over the next ten years to maintain this 1% increase in energy efficiency. Of the approximately 18% margin that we have calculated could be obtained in energy efficiency we should be able to achieve two thirds by 2010, that is an improvement of about 12% in energy efficiency. One per cent sustained: this is not 1% for just one year but an effort that will have to be kept up for some time.
I am pleased that Mr Wijkman concludes in his report that we can continue uncoupling economic growth from energy consumption. That is, we can grow more and at the same time still contain growth in the demand for energy.
I fully agree with Mr Wijkman’s demands for improving efficiency in construction. A draft directive has already been circulated in the Commission to regulate efficiency and the construction standards within the European Union that ensure energy efficiency in buildings, especially public ones.
The Commission may present this directive soon, and I look forward to your contribution to it."@en1
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