Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Assessment of the progress made by Member States towards the national energy efficiency targets for 2020 and towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU as required by Article 24 (3) of Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU

The Energy Union Strategy called for a fundamental rethinking of energy efficiency, to treat it as an energy source in its own right, representing the value of energy saved. Focusing on energy efficiency as a way of moderating energy demand delivers on the objectives of security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability, and results in cost savings for consumers and industry. The Energy Union Strategy confirmed the energy efficiency target of 20% by 2020, which means less than 1086 Mtoe of final energy consumption or less than 1483 Mtoe of primary energy consumption. This is the basis for moving forward to a reduction of at least 27% by 2030 to be reviewed by 2020, having in mind a figure of 30%.

In 2014, the Commission concluded in its Energy Efficiency Communication that the EU would achieve energy savings of around 18-19% in 2020. Since then Member States have made improved efforts to implement EU energy efficiency legislation and have set more ambitious energy efficiency targets (now adding up to 17.6 % primary energy saving in 2020, last year the targets added to only 16.4%). On this basis the Commission remains optimistic that the 20% target will be achieved provided existing EU legislation is fully implemented, Member States increase their level of ambition and the investment conditions for energy efficiency continue to improve across Europe.

This report gives an assessment of progress made towards this target as well as the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU. It includes some recommendations for Member States and is based on Member States’ Annual Reports and the National Energy Efficiency Action Plans. This report is accompanied by a staff working document which contains a detailed description of the performance indicators used.

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)245: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:245:FIN

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