According to a report just published European Union member states are far behind in developing plans to meet new energy efficiency requirements.
Under the energy efficiency directive, agreed in 2012, member states must put in place plans to achieve energy savings of 1.5 per cent from 2014 to 2020.
According to EU news website EuropeanVoice an analysis of the first batch of national strategies shows that only three countries have plans that are credible, Denmark, Ireland and Croatia.
The analysis, conducted by campaign group the Coalition for Energy Savings, found that 13 of the plans are either incomplete or are of such a low quality that they are not assessable.
These include the plans of Germany, Finland, Sweden and all central and eastern European countries except Latvia and Croatia.
“Most governments’ implementation plans, in particular those from central and eastern countries, are not ambitious and do not convince us that the minimum energy savings will be reached,” said Stefan Scheuer, secretary general of the coalition, at a press conference reported by EuropeanVoice.
The analysis also found that almost all countries have used the maximum exemptions to lower the 1.5 per cent annual end-use energy savings, which means that the average target in the EU is actually only 0.8 per cent.
Common problems with the plans include an incorrect calculation of the target, ineligibility of measures and inclusions of energy savings that would have happened anyway.
EuropeanVoice reports the analysis concludes that on the basis of the plans it is highly unlikely the EU will meet its target of increasing energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020.
Member states have until 5 June this year to transpose the energy efficiency directive into national law, and they have until 30 April to officially submit their plans to the European Commission.
The EC will assess the plans once they are officially submitted.
Member states risk infringement procedures and possible fines if they do not meet the mandatory energy savings target.
Member states significantly watered down the EC’s proposal for an energy efficiency directive during negotiations in 2012.
However the debate around increasing the EU’s energy efficiency has taken on a more urgent tone since the Russian take over of Crimea and the developing situation in Ukraine opened the possibility of cuts to Europe’s energy supplies from Russia.
US President Barack Obama said during his visit to Brussels last month that the EU must increase its energy efficiency to reduce its dependency on Russian imports.
