Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-12-Speech-1-125"
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"en.20051212.17.1-125"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I am glad that we will, tomorrow, be adopting the directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services. That is not a matter of doubt now that the compromises reached with the Council seem certain to be supported by all the groups in this House.
I would like to extend the warmest of thanks to all the shadow rapporteurs and to those who assisted us, cooperation with all of whom was excellent and certainly made an essential contribution to our achieving a result. While this result is less than what the Commission proposed and certainly far less than what Parliament sought at first reading, I do assert that it is a credible one. It requires the Member States, over a period of nine years, to make energy savings of at least 9%, which is less than the 11.5% that Parliament was asking for. It is also the case that these targets – contrary to what both the Commission and Parliament wanted – are not binding. Even so, I think we were right not to let this stand in the way of an agreement.
Although we have not been able to agree on binding targets, the directive does contain specific requirements for action at the national level. With effect from mid-2007, the Member States will be required to draw up, on a regular basis, that is to say initially every four years and thereafter every three, energy efficiency action plans, which they must then send to Brussels. These action plans shall contain the Member States’ planned measures to achieve the targets, which might well include projects to renovate buildings, the promotion of energy-efficient equipment or of energy audits, car-free days and major educational and information campaigns. These action plans are to lay particular stress on the public sector, to which the directive gives an exemplary role. The intended result of this directive is the establishment, by means of indicators and benchmarks, of new energy efficiency standards throughout Europe.
There is enormous potential for us to make savings, and it really is high time that we made better use of it. Between 20% and 30% of our present energy consumption could be cut without our sustaining any economic losses whatever; that amount is equivalent to the energy consumed by six Member States, namely Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece and the Netherlands taken together. At a time when energy prices are high, it is incomprehensible that better use is not being made of this potential, and another remarkable thing about this is that it was very difficult to achieve this result, with a number of Member States being unwilling to go any further.
This directive can and must usher in a real drive for energy efficiency. Where demand for energy is concerned, there is considerable ground for us to make up. While there are some Member States – Denmark is one of them – that have exemplary energy saving policies with binding targets, there are others that will have to start virtually from square one. The directive also aims to create a real market for energy services, which would be offered by distributors and vendors of energy as well as by independent service providers. The new European legislation will also have the important effect of affording consumers greater transparency, with, for example, energy meters tailored as closely as possible to the individual’s needs, and a regular account of consumption that makes it possible to compare one’s own consumption with that of a control group.
Commissioner Piebalgs deserves a great deal of congratulation for declaring energy efficiency to be his priority. This directive is a vitally important element in any strategy to that end. What matters now is that it be transposed and implemented, and I hope that the Commission will cast a critical eye over the Member States to ensure that this really is done in a satisfactory manner."@en1
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