Piebalgs delays publication of energy efficiency plan

The European Commission has delayed announcing a raft of measures to improve the EU’s energy efficiency in order to spend more time beefing up the proposal.

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs was planning to publish the energy efficiency action plan on 12 October, after repeated delays. But the initiative, which sets out concrete measures for the EU to achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020, could be postponed for at least a couple of months after an early draft was criticised for a lack of ambition.

Piebalgs’s spokesman said that the paper had been delayed to "strengthen it and make it more ambitious", taking into account that energy efficiency was "a number one priority". He added that more time was needed on the plan because it covered a wide range of policies which were important for energy efficiency including transport and foreign relations. "It’s extremely dispersed and diffuse but we want to send a clear message to citizens to say this is a serious issue," he said.

The spokesman suggested that the plan could be ready for the meeting of EU energy ministers on 23 November. But there is a possibility that it will be delayed until January and published at the same time as the Commission’s energy strategy paper, the follow-up to the Green Paper from March, which will set out steps to open up the energy market.

Officials said that a first draft of the paper contained a long list of possible actions but lacked a real focus on priority areas for action.

The delay has prompted concern that the Commission will downgrade energy efficiency concerns if the plan is merged with next January’s energy strategy paper. John Hontelez, secretary-general of the European Environmental Bureau, which represents 140 environmental organisations, said: "I’m afraid that the discussions are going to be dominated by security of the oil, gas and nuclear energy markets rather than efficiency."

The first draft had been "very weak" while it needed to include energy efficiency standards for products, like cars, and production processes, and deal with the "failure of the car industry to fulfil its commitments on fuel efficient vehicles". It should also put more pressure on member states to make more progress on implementing rules like energy efficiency standards for buildings, said Hontelez.

• French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has called for the EU to have its own energy czar to lead diplomatic contacts with major supplier countries. Speaking in Berlin last week, Villepin said a special energy representative could organise a summit with the EU’s major energy suppliers, Algeria, Norway and Russia, during Germany’s presidency of the Council of Ministers in the first half of next year. He also called for greater convergence of national energy policies and better co- ordination of strategic energy reserves.

The European Commission has delayed announcing a raft of measures to improve the EU’s energy efficiency in order to spend more time beefing up the proposal.

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